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SIGSBEE LEAVING THE MAINE. 
(" I suggested the propriety of my being the last to leave.") 



(See page 34.) 



i 



Till' STORY 



OF 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



PY 



ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS 

AUTHOR OK "HISTORIC BOYS," "THE TRUE STORY OK THE UNITED 

STATES," "THE CENTURY HOOK KOR YOUNG AMERICANS," 

"CHILDREN'S LIVES OF GREAT MEN," ETC., ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 



BOSTON 
LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY 

L • 






29574 



Copyright, iSgg, 

BY 

LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY. 



TWOCui-u. ,,^^^, 



V£0. 




NortaooH ^rcss 

J. S. Cushing & Co. — Btrwkk & Smith 

Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



PREFACE 

I\ this story of our war witli Spain no attempt 
has been made to enter upon a discussion of 
methods or an elaborate plan of campaign. 

The author's design has been to give simply, 
concisely, and connectedly the complete story of 
what President McKinley calls "our extraordinary 
war with Spain," so that readers, young and old, 
who have neither time nor inclination for the 
study of operations in too great detail may obtain, 
as it were, a bird's-eye view of the war from the 
insistent causes to the final triumphal close. 

Besides Mr. Emerson's spirited drawings, the 
publishers were able to procure from one of the 
"boys" actually at the front "snap shots" of promi- 
nent scenes and places that add a distinctive value 
to the story, and make privation, action, and envi- 
ronment even more real than could a mere " hear- 
say" sketch. Thanks also are due to Mr. Wendell 
Phillips Thore for assistance and suggestion. 

E. S. B. 

Boston, March 17, 1899. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 
I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 
V. 

\\. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

Xlil. 

XI\'. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 



Wli)- the Mijiiic was in Havana Harl:)or . 

Wliy Congress gave the President Fifty Millions . 

How the War began 

How Admiral Dewey spent his May-day 

Why the United States Navy y .yed at Hide-and-seek 

How thev bottled up the Spanish Fleet at Santiago 

How the Marines held the Beach at Guantanamo . 

Why the Boys cheered at Daiquiri .... 

How they cleared the Jungle at Guasimas 

How they broke the Line at El Cancy and stormed the 
Hill of San Juan 

How they surprised the Governor of Guam 

How the Spanish Admiral made a Dash for Liberty 

Why they cheered in the Trenches 

How the Flag floated over Porto Rico . 

Why General Merritt played Jackson at .Manila 

The Things that helped .... 

How the War ended 



The Story of our War with Spain chronologically told 



FACE 

9 

27 

49 
66 

90 

1 1 1 

130 
150 
165 

181 

201 

245 
262 
280 
296 

il7 



v» 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Sigsbee leaving the Maine . 

A Bit of Old Havana . 

The Landing-place of Columbus 

Arms of the Conquistadores 

On the Plaza de Armas, Havana 

The Wall at Santiago . 

The Morro. Havana . 

President McKinley . 

The U.S. Battleship A/aifie 

A Cuban Farm-house . 

Spanish Troopers 

The Home of a Sugar Planter 

Near Matanzas . 

A Cuban Soldier 

A Typical Farm-house 

View from the Yuniuri Valley, near Matanzas 

Admiral Dewey . 

On Corregidor Island . 

Dewey at Manila 

Rear Admiral Sampson 

The Transports en route to Cuba 

The City of Cadiz in Spain 

The Diamond Rock, off Martinique 

The Harbor of San Juan in Porto Rico 

The New York 



Frontispiece 



9 
1 1 

14 

17 
20 

27 

3' 
36 
41 
44 
5' 
59 
61 

64 
66 
69 

79 
90 

92 

95 
loi 
105 
107 



IX 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Lieutenant Hobson 

In the Harbor of Santiago 

Cabanas 

Hobson on the Bridge of the Merriinac 

Where the Merriinac lies . 

Hobson's Interpreter . 

The Marines at Guantanamo 

Morro Castle, Santiago 

General Shafter . 

At the Dock at Tampa 

The Heights of Jibara 

Baracoa, near Cape Maisi 

Colonel Roosevelt 

Spanish "Fortine," or Fort No. 

The Jungle Path at Guasimas 

Camp of the Rough Riders . 

The Road to El Caney 

Where the Right Wing marched 

'• Capron's Pet " . 

After the Battle . 

The San Juan River . 

The Charge up San Juan Hill 

The Reserves waiting for Orders 

Where Guam is . 

"The Silent Gun"' 

The U.S. Cruiser Charleston 

In Philippine Waters . 

Admiral Schley . 

Trench-making before Santiago 

Camp of the American Advance 

The Inner Harbor of Santiago 

Where Cervera ran out , 



outside of Santiago 



PAGE 

1 1 1 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



XI 



Wainwright on the Gloiici-stiT 

U.S. Cruiser Brooklyn 

Bamboo Bridge over the San Juan River 

In the Trenches .... 

.\ Silk-cotton Tree .... 

Mule Train on the Way to relieve the Santia 

The Church at El Caney 

Railway Station on the Road from El Caney 

" No Cheering ! " 

General Miles ..... 

A Bullock Cart in Porto Rico 

The Casa Blanca .... 

A Porto Rican Garden 

A Mountain Battery .... 

*' Cease firing ! Peace has been declared ! " 

The Approach to Manila 

A Street in Manila .... 

''Capron's Pet" 

A Noble Helper 

The St. Paul and The Terror 

•'Taking his Quinine" 

Supplies for the Camp 

Santiago Harbor and the Morro . 

Bridge on the El Caney Road 

In Santiago ..... 

At Montauk ..... 



go Refugees 



to Santia 



Jio 



PACE 

241 
246 
248 
251 
252 

256 
259 
262 
264 
267 
271 
274 

285 
291 
298 
302 
305 

3'o 

315 
3«8 

321 

324 
327 



THE STORY OF 

OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

IN 1898 



THE 



STORY OF OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



CHAPTER I 



WHY THE MAINE WAS IX HAVANA HARBOR 









Ar midday on Tuesday, the twenty-fifth 
of January, 189S, the United States 
battleship Maine steamed into the 
harbor of Havana, the chief city 
of the Spanish island of Cuba. 
Spotless and speckless from keel 
to fighting-top, with the Stars and 
Stripes at the peak and the Jack at 
the foremast head, the great white 
cruiser, guided by a Spanish pilot, threaded the 
narrow entrance to the harbor, and just abreast 
the Admirals Palace, on the water-front of the 
Cuban metropolis, ran out her chains and niade 
fast to the mooring-buoy selected by the Spanish 
pilot. Then her guns thundered their salute to 



A lUT OF OLD 
HAVANA. 



10 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

the Spanish flag, the naval cadet reported to the 
American consul, and Yankee commander and 
Spanish admiral exchanged visits of courtesy. 

At forty minutes past nine on the night of 
Friday, the fifteenth of February, 189S, without 
warning and apparently without reason, while lying 
peacefully in the same mooring-berth to which the 
Spanish pilot had conducted her, the United States 
battleship Maine blew up with a bursting, rend- 
ing, crashing roar, and two hundred and fifty-four 
Yankee blue-jackets went down in the blackness 
and smoke of the ruined battleship to swift and 
sudden death in the harbor of Havana. 

" Well, what business had she there, anyhow ? " 
certain faultfinding and unpatriotic Americans 
demanded, when the world fell to discussing this 
bafiling and awful disaster. 

What business had that armed battleship of the 
United States in the unfriendly but not openly 
hostile waters of Havana? Let us first discover 
this before we chronicle the results of that terrible 
catastrophe which precipitated a peaceful, home- 
loving people into a foreign and aggressive war, 
and wrung from American lips, from ocean to 
ocean and from Lakes to Gulf, the stern and deter- 
mined watchword : " Remember the Maine ! " 



WHV nil; MAINE WAS IN HAVANA IlAKliOR 1 1 

The reason for llie presence of the Maine in Span- 
isli waters dates far back in the history of America. 

I'^roni the clays of Columbus, tlie admiral, who 
first planted upon American st)il the \ellow banner 
of Spain, that emblem of discovery, occupation, 




THE LA.\I>I.\(;-|'LACE OF COLUMIJUS. 
(At the north end of Watling's Island, one of the Bahama group.) 

colonization, and conquest had been also the 
symbol of inhumanity, selfishness, and orced. 

1 here had been notable exceiitions to this 
record of tyranny, from the noble Las Casas, 
" protector of the Indians," to the gentle Fray 



12 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

jiinipcro Serro, friend of tlie California tribes ; but 
the exceptions only helped to prove the rule. The 
methods of Spain in America were those of medi- 
aeval times, and the customs of Spain in her 
colonies were, in 1800, not a day advanced beyond 
the Middle Aoes — the times of Alva and the 
Inquisition, of Pizarro and Cortes and De Soto. 
From the very beginning of Spanish occupation, 
therefore, the hand of Spain lay heavy upon the 
vast American empire that Columbus and his 
successors had delivered into her keeping. 

This " empire " embraced the greater part of 
Central and South America, the fertile islands 
known as the West Indies, and all that section 
of what is now the United States of America lying 
west of the Mississippi. 

This portion of North America, of especial 
interest to us, Spain took to herself through 
those unjust and unwritten laws of discovery, 
exploration, and conquest that were a part of the 
law of nations four centuries ago, as they are to- 
day to an only slightly modified extent. 

By the right of discovery and exploration Spain 
claimed North as well as South America. For 
her ships and sailors had carried into northern 
as well as southern waters the proud banner of 



\\ll\ llli; MAIM-: WAS IN HAVANA llARHOR 13 

Castile; it liad floated on tlic St. Lawrence and 
tlic IIirIm)!!, in the harbor of I'l)nioulli aiul aljo\c 
the loiiLT reaches of Chesapeake Ha\-. while traces 
of Sjjanish occupancy exist in iMarxland and 
Vireinia and reach far into the interior of New 
N'ork state. De Soto and his men zigzagged across 
the Southern states from Pensacola in T'lorida to 
New Orleans, now wandering as far north as the 
James River and now as far south as Mobile 
Bay, ending finally at Vicksburg, from which they 
drifted dismally down the Mississippi to disaster 
and death. Coronado and his glittering train of 
armored men wandered from Mexico to Kansas, 
and, on a fruitless hunt for storied cities, walled 
in gold and gems, doomed to disappointment, left 
their traces in the conquered pueblo of Santa Fe 
in New Mexico, which divides with St. Augustine 
in Florida (both Spanish settlements) the honor 
of beini^ the oldest cit\- in the Cnitecl States. 

Hv virtue of vSpanish discoveries before the 
davs ()f Sebastian Cabot, .Spain disj^uted with 
Fngland the right of possession, and that dis- 
pute, inherited b\- the United States from I'^ng- 
land, has rankled and ^mouldered through all the 
years since first I^ngiand and .Spain struggled for 
the mastery of the western world. 



14 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



The Spaniards, to be sure, never extended their 
encroachments or actual demands north of Dela- 
ware Bay; but, from the first presence of English- 
man and Spaniard upon the waters and within 
the limits of the New W^orld, this strife for posses- 
sion was sure to come. 
Indeed, in the settlement 
of America, the newly 
found lands fell largely to 
Spain and England, and 
as the Anglo-Saxon race 
spread itself along new 
lines of occupation and 
conquest, the Spaniards 
in North America found 
themselves 
confined to the 
banks of the Mis- 
sissippi and the shores 
of the Gulf of Mexico. 

ARMS OF THE CONQUISTADORES. y[^^\ ^\\ Spaulsh gOVCm- 
(Toledo blades and Spanish cutlass, i .i i •}•, 

,.„„,.,.„, ., ors possessed the ability 

used in the colonization ot the r -' 

West Indies. From San Domingo.) of GalvCZ Or tllC COUragC 

of young Louis Grandpre, whose story all Ameri- 
can boys should read, the records of the struggle 
with Spain would have been quite different from 




WIW THF MAINK WAS I\ HAVANA HARBOR 15 

what they arc, altliough the result would have 
been the same; for the American race of Anelo- 
Saxon strain would at last have i)ossessed itself 
of the whole southern and western countrv, thou^di 
forty times the strength of Spain barred the path 
to progress and expansion. 

Theodore Roosevelt makes the three great 
stages in the advance of the Anglo-Saxon race 
j the conquest of Britain, the defeat of the Span- 
ish Armada, and the establishment of the United 
States. In the last two of these three stagres. 
Spain was a leading factor; for the West, though 
won from England, was equally won from Si)ain. 

The continued and overmastering pressure of 
the American frontiersman, pioneer, and colonist 
could not be withstood by the less aggressive and 
more dilatory Spanish officials in the south and 
southwest. But, now and then, a flash of the old- 
time Spanish valor lights up the story, as when 
the intrepid Galvez, a youthful and brilliant soldier, 
swept the Mississippi of British and .Vmericans, 
and laid successful siege to Mobile and Pensacola ; 
or as when the Spanish captain Pierro led a suc- 
cessful invasion and foray from St. Louis to the 
Lakes and })lanted the banner of Spain in the 
heart of what is to-day the city of Chicago. 



1 6 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

These were but flashes of spirit, however, which 
flickered and died out before the resistless ad- 
vance of the hardy American borderers, and when 
Thomas Amis with his flatboat tried to force the 
Spanish lines at Natches, and George Rogers 
Clark in 1786 raided the Spanish merchants at 
Vincennes, it was the entering wedge that led 
at last to the giving up by Spain of the vast 
region beyond the Mississippi, the stern " clearing 
up " by Jackson in Florida, and the final with- 
drawal of the Spaniard from the land above which 
from the days of De Soto and Coronado the yel- 
low standard of Spain had floated in possession, 
and in which she had won and lost an empire. 

The story of Spanish intrigue for power and 
possession in North America played a more im- 
portant part in the greater story of the United 
States than our histories admit ; it has, indeed, 
no small bearing upon our long and unsettled 
relations with Spain. That nation never had sym- 
pathy or affection for the United States. Her 
apparent willingness to help the colonies in their 
struggle for independence was altogether selfish 
and by no means real. It was because she hated 
England, an old-time foe, not because she loved 
America, her would-be ally; and, all through the 



wn\ nil: MAIM-: was in Havana iiAKnoR 17 

American Revolution and the unsettled days that 
iolk)\\ed, Spain's relations with the United States 
were marked h\' insincerity and double-dealin<r. 




.— -— . f' 



ON THE I'l.AZA I)E AR.MAS, ILWANA. 
(Formerly the palace of the Governor-General of Cuba.) 

At last she was forced off the mainland and 
into the sea, occupying as her last foothold those 
beautiful islands which she had misooverned and 
wasted for centuries, known as the Antilles or, as 
Americans termed them, the West Indies. Her 
possessions in Central and South America dropped 
from her, one bv one, until at last, of all her once 
glorious colonial empire, only Cuba and Porto Rico 
acknowledged the overlordship of the Spanish flag. 



1 8 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

For years too, even in those " ever faithful 
isles," as Spain loved to term them, faithfulness 
was scarcely to be relied upon, and the flag of 
Spain remained with but uncertain tenure. Spain 
learned nothing by experience, and her government 
of her last remaining islands was marked by the 
same arrogance, greed, and cruelty that had de- 
prived her of all those vast possessions in Amer- 
ica that had once been hers. 

As the nearest power and the natural commer- 
cial neighbor of Cuba and Porto Rico, the United 
States was again and again brought into unpleas- 
ant relations with Spain. To the great republic 
those islands looked for trade, to it they turned 
for countenance and support in every futile effort 
they made for relief or independence. 

From 1823 to 186S — nearly fifty years of un- 
easiness — these restless Cuban revolts against 
Spain were little more than "disturbances"; but 
in that year began the ten-years war. It was the 
first concerted movement for actual independence. 

The territory of the United States was only a 
hundred miles away; it was the natural shelter for 
large numbers of Cuban refugees or sympathizers, 
and it naturally became the " outfitting " place for 
frequent unauthorized attempts at armed help to 



WHY Tin-: MAIM': was IX HWANA IIAKP.OR 19 

tlie Cuban rcl)cls. 'I'hcsc cxj^cclilions, Idci'iil;- un- 
lawful, were ])r()]iibitc(l 1)}' tlic United States; but 
they were secretly promoted and prepared never- 
theless, and thouo'h some of these filibusters were 
restrained or arrested, certain of their expeditions 
did slip away from American vigilance, and land 
their men and war material in Cuba. 

One such rilil)Listering expedition, embarked 
upon a small American sidewheel steamer named 
the Virginins, slipped away in October, 1873, 
escaping American supervision, and with arms 
and men on board fell into the hands of the 
Spaniards. At once, the one hundred and thirty- 
five men captured on the Virgiiuus were, with 
customary Spanish cruelty, declared " pirates," and 
fifty-three of them, without trial and in spite of 
the ]:)rotests of the American and British consuls, 
were taken ashore at Santiago, ranged up against 
a wall, still known as the place of martyrdom, and 
were there inhumanly shot. 

Certain of these men were American citizens, 
and, althou<'"h bv beino: enfjafjed in an unlawful 
enterprise which their own government had pro- 
hibited and threatened with punishment, they were 
taking their lives in their hands, still so brutal 
and summary a proceeding could not go unnoticed, 



20 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

and the United States was at once horrified and 
indignant. 

This indignation very nearly ripened into war. 
Indeed, actual conflict was only averted by Spain's 
official and complete apology, including a money 
indemnity and a salute to the American flaor ; but 




thp: wall at Santiago. 

(Along this wall the Virgiiiiiis prisoners were ranged and shot in 1873.) 

even this did not satisfy the great body of Amer- 
icans, who felt that Spain's apology was as insin- 
cere as its methods, and believed, with Secretary 
Fish and President Grant, that this was only a 
postponement of the inevitable conflict. 

This conflict, in fact, was becoming more and 
more certain. For over seventy years the posses- 



WIIV THIC MAIM'; WAS IN IIWANA IIAKI'.OR 21 

sion of Cuba hv Spain had been a menace and an 
eyesore to the L nilcd Slates. Tlie methods of 
o-overnnient, tlie treatment of tlic ]:)Cople, the con- 
tinual restlessness and unhappiness of the Cubans, 
tlie ineffectual efforts toward settlement or pacifi- 
cation, the frequency and annoyance of fihbuster- 
ing schemes, the arrogance of Spain, all combined 
to urge the United States to some attempt at 
settling the Cuban problem, which had indeed 
been a problem ever since the declaration of the 
Monroe Doctrine in 1823, and the plan for the 
annexation oi Cuba in 1S40. 

More than this, the business interests of the 
I'nited States in Cuba were constantly increas- 
ing; American citizens, resident there because of 
business duties, were continually in dano^er or 
jeopard}-; and, niore im}3ortant still, the miserable 
and insufferable sanitary conditions of what should 
be a heahliful and beautiful island made the land 
a breeding-spot of yellow fever and other menacing 
diseases to which almost every epidemic that had 
visited the United States could be directly traced. 

In spite of all this, however, peace with Spain 
would ha\-e remained unbroken had not a new 
outburst of the rebellious spirit led to the revolt 
from Spain which began in I'ebruary, 1S95. This 



f 



22 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

led to a wasting and ineffectual war which brought 
victory neither to Spanish masters nor Cuban 
rebels, but did materially weaken and destroy the 
industries of the island, especially the large sugar 
trade in which the United States was directly 
interested. Added to this were the brutal and 
mediaeval methods to which the Spanish gov- 
ernor, General Weyler, resorted to overcome and 
kill off the Cuban non-combatants; these were 
known as " reconcentrados." 

" Weyler's plan " was, in fact, nothing less than 
a process of slow starvation, and it awakened 
the indio^nation of all Americans who believed 
in humanity and fair play. This 'American dis- 
satisfaction led, in 1896, to an advance on the 
part of Congress, requesting the President of the 
United States to make some move toward stop- 
ping this critical and horrible condition of affairs 
in Cuba; but nothing was actually done except 
that President Cleveland, in his Annual Message 
of December, 1896, referred to Spain's " inability " 
to deal successfully with the insurrection, and de- 
clared that "a situation will be presented in 
\ which our obligation to the sovereignty of Spain 
will be superseded by higher obligations which we 
can hardly hesitate to recognize and discharge." 



WHY Tin-: MAINE WAS IN HAVANA HARBOR 23 

This meant (liat if Sj)ain did not act l)ettcr and 
"play fair" toward her i)crsecuted Cuban subjects, 
the United States could not stand it longer, and 
would have to interfere, in the interests of human- 
ity, decency, order, and justice. 

This was the condition of affairs when W'illiani 
McKinley became President of the United States 
by the election of 1S96. Starvation, desolation, 
destruction, and inhumanitv were ruininij: one of 
the fairest islands of the world — an island which, 
from the time the Spaniards Jiad discovered and 
occupied it, had never been allowed a fair chance 




THE MORKO, II.WAXA. 

(The old castle guarding the entrance to the harbor which the Maine 

saluted in passing.) 

to successfully develop its great resources or lift 
its people above the rank of vassals and slaves. 

More and more the tendencv of j)ublic opinion 
in America was toward interference. This dis- 



24 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

played itself in every way, from a friendly sugges- 
tion to Spain to the recognition of the rights of 
the rebels, acknowledgment of the Cuban Republic, 
and armed invasion by the forces of the United 
States. Hotheads in Congress and irresponsible 
newspapers throughout the Union exerted them- 
selves to rouse the President and the people to 
some radical and determined action. But the 
United States never did care to meddle with the 
affairs of other nations; the United States is a 
peace-loving nation and abhors war, in which it 
has had repeated and harsh though always victo- 
rious experiences. So, when the Spanish gov- 
ernment recalled the cruel and brutal Governor 
Weyler, put in his place the more humane Gov- 
ernor Blanco, promised reform in its government 
of the Cubans, and promised also that the loyal 
Cubans should be allowed to govern themselves 
under much the same system as the British sub- 
jects of Canada and Australia, the President 
and people of the United States said, "We will 
wait awhile longer, before doing anything," — and 
waited, hoping for better things. 

But better things did not come, as promised 
or as hoped. Indeed, the self-governing scheme 
proved an utter failure; the miserable " reconcen- 



WIIV illl': maim: was in IIAVANA llAkliOK 2 



-5 



trados " were ncitlur released nor lelieved, and an 
opposition lo the new methods, led on 1)\' Spanish 
soldiers and offieials, proxoked frecpient outbreaks 
and open riot e\en in Havana itself. 

In July, 1896, Major-Gencral I'itzhugli Lee, a 
\ irginian of jDroved ability and courage, was sent 
to 1 Ia\ana as Consul-General of the United States, 
lie ft)und the island i>round beneath the double 
burdens of Spanish taxes and Spanish t\ranny; as 
victims of the latter were numerous naturalized 
citizens of the United States, against whose arrest 
and })unishment the Consul-General vigorously 
protested; he found the "home-rule" reforms of 
the Spaniards little more than a farce, while the 
pitiable condition of the unfortunate " reconcen- 
trados " was only very slightly relieved by the help 
sent in money and supplies from the Ihiited States; 
he found that the rebels ot the island were proof 
against the briberv and the questionable truce or 
armistice proffered by the Spanish Governor-Gen- 
eral, while the officials and arm\- ofiFicers of Spain 
were abetting the riotous and unsettled conditions 
ol I Li\ana, to the great danger and positi\e threat- 
ening of the American residents. 

It was clear to General Lee that some demon- 
stration of interest in behalf of these endangered 



26 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Americans was necessary on the part of the United 
States, especially as it appeared as if Governor- 
General Blanco might not be able to " control the 
situation," as he expressed it. 

He therefore suggested that a naval vessel of 
the United States be made ready to "move 
promptly in case American interests in Cuba 
suffered because of our open sympathy with the 
starvinor Cubans"; and for that reason the battle- 
ship Maine was ordered to Havana; for this reason 
on the fifteenth of February the Maine lay at her 
moorino;s in Havana harbor. 



CHAPTER II 



\\\\\ CONGRESS CAVK THE rKESIDEXT I II l^' MFII.IONS 

THE appearance of the 
battleship Maine in 
Havana harbor did not 
please the Spaniards of 
Cuba. Naturally they could 
not, in their excited condi- 
tion, look upon the coming 
of such a warship at such 
a time ' as altogether the 
"fricndlv naval visit" it was 
announced to be. Indeed, 
Consul-General Eee himself, 
in view of the unfriendly and hostile feeling that 
had increased toward Americans during the days 
of the disturbed and riotous condition of Havana, 
felt that it would l)e well to postpone the visit a 
few davs and mve the excitement time to disappear. 
His telcirram of advice, however, came too late; 
fur the Secretary of State advised him that the 




PRESIDENT McKIXLKV. 



28 OUR WAR W^IH SPAIN 

Maine had already been ordered to proceed to 
Havana, and the very next morning the big white 
battleship sailed into Havana harbor, and pro- 
ceeded to the mooring-berth assigned her by the 
harbor master. 

For three weeks she lay thus at anchor. Her 
officers received and returned the official visits 
that are the rule in all ports entered by warships 
in time of peace, but Captain Sigsbee of the Maine 
was convinced and, in fact, was made to feel that 
there was no real friendliness on the Spanish side 
in this exchange of courtesies. Under all the 
pleasant speeches there was, he saw, a spirit of 
resentment and unfriendliness toward Americans. 
Anxious to avoid any opportunity for disturbance, 
the captain kept his crew on board, not granting 
them the " shore leave " customary when vessels 
are in port. He put them through all the regular 
ship drills, excepting " night quarters " and" " clear- 
ing for action," but he was careful to avoid every- 
thing that might be misrepresented or misjudged. 

While the Maine floated thus at her moorino-- 
berth at Havana, a foolish piece of work on the 
part of the Spanish minister was performed at 
Washington. This careless official, whose duty it 
w^as to be very particular in his actions, w'rote a 



WHY CONGRESS CAVi: IIFTY MIIJ.TOXS 29 

letter to a friend in wliieli lie went out of bis 
way to n-iisjudge, belittle, and in>ult President 
McKinley. A Cuban si)y whose chief aim was 
to embroil S})ain and the United States obtained 
possession of this letter, and placed it in the hands 
of the Cuban Agents, or " junta," in New York, 
who, in turn, gave it to a New York newspaper 
anxious for sensations. The letter was published 
and did create a sensation. It made Americans 
indienant, caused the immediate resio-nation of the 
Spanish minister, and still further complicated mat- 
ters already unsettled because of the Cuban trouble. 
It was while this bit of comedy was being played 
that the chief tragedy of the war was enacted in 
Havana harbor. It was on the evening of the 
fifteenth of February. The Spanish minister had 
resigned and left the country; the American people 
were divided between amusement and indignation ; 
the Spaniards in Cuba were infuriated over the 
fact that the minister had been found out, and, in 
their amrer at the Americans — "the Yankee pigs," 
as they loved to call us — and at the presence of 
an American warship in Havana harbor, they had 
taken to sendin-- threateninor letters and circulars 
to the cool Consul-General Lee and the equally 
cool Captain Sigsbee ; and the tenor of these 



30 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

letters was " the moment of action has arrived. 
Death to the Americans ! " 

It was past nine o'clock; the Maine was swing- 
ing at her mooring-buoy ; the captain was writing 
in his cabin ; the bugler was sounding taps : — 
" turn in and keep quiet ; " the cabin mess-attend- 
ant had taken up his banjo after looking after the 
captain's wants, and the big ship was just settling 
itself for the night, heading north and west in 
the windless current exactly in position to rake the 
shore fortifications had she been on a warlike 
mission and "cleared for action." 

The night was dark and overcast, hot and sultr)'; 
the steam launch was riding at the starboard boom ; 
the crew had turned in ; the quarter-watch was on 
duty; the officers were in their mess-room, and 
everything, apparently, was quiet and peaceful on 
ship and shore. 

Suddenly, into the sultry night, boomed a dull, 
mufiled explosion, as if smothered by water; then 
came a bursting, rending crash followed by a dull 
red glare. It splintered, ripped, and tore; the air 
was filled with missiles and flying timbers ; the 
electric lights went out ; the great vessel trembled, 
lurched, and listed to port ; then the bow, raised 
above the waves a moment, went down head first ; 



WHY CONGRESS GAVE FIFrV MILLIONS 31 



^ 



^ 




m 






•x**! 




TIIK U.S. BATTLESHIP MAINE. 



the water rushed in throuoli the 2:reat holes torn 
in the shattered liull ; and two hundred and fifty- 
four men — for tlie most part sleeping sailors in 
their quarters on the berth-deck — were carried 
down to death in the torn and shapeless wreck of 
the splendid battleship Maine — once the pride of 
the noble White Squadron of the American navy. 
Offers of help and ready assistance came at once 
from the Spanish war-vessels and other ships in the 
harbor. Regrets and sympathy with assurances of 
the absolute ignorance on their part of the cause 
of the terrible disaster came from Spanish officials 



^2 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



J 



on ship and shore. But the fact remained that the 
Maine had been blown up while moored by a Span- 
ish pilot to a Spanish buoy in a Spanish harbor; 
and to this day, though the cause of the explosion 
remains a mystery, the combination of suspicious 
circumstances has impressed upon the American 
people that their splendid warship was deliberately 
destroyed for hostile reasons by the hostile people 
who resented its presence in a Spanish port. 

The total death roll of that night of horror (in- 
cluding the injured who died on shore) was two 
hundred and sixty-four men and two officers ; and 
for that sacrifice Spain has been held to strict 
account and has paid for it dearly in blood and 
land and treasure. For, argue it as we may, if 
the Maine had not been blown up in Havana 
harbor, the war with Spain might, for a time at 
least, have been averted. 

But even the terrible tragedy of the Maine did 
not at once " let slip the dogs of war," as Shake- 
speare puts it. The great good sense of the 
American people, which can always be relied upon 
in critical moments, again asserted itself in spite 
of the demands for vengeance that came from over- 
excitable citizens and sensation-seeking newspa- 
pers. With a marvellous patience and a splendid 



WHY c()N(;ri:ss gave fifty mii.liOiNs 33 

restraint tlic AiiKiican i)c(»plc awaited the verdict 
of the Naval Court of Inquiry whicli was at once 
apjKMntcd by the President to investigate and 
report upon the cause of the destruction of the 
]\Iainc. 

This example of restraint was set by those 
officials upon whom action depended. In the 
midst of sorrow, loss, wrath, and wreck Captain 
Siiisbee of the foundered Maine, realizino^ that 
the patience of the people was well-nigh exhausted 
and that unwise words might lead to regrettable 
results, sank his own feelings and suspicions and, 
in telegraphing to Washington the tidings of the 
fearful disaster, made no charsfes, but beo^s^ed that 
" public opinion should be suspended until further 
report." 

To one who calmly reads those words to-day, 
apart from the terrible strain under which they 
were written, tlieir full significance can scarcely be 
appreciated. The last man to leave the cruel wreck 
of his noble ship. Captain Sigsbee could still repress 
his wrath and command his sorrow even though 
he felt certain as to the cause of the disaster and 
the responsibility for the murder of his men. 

" It was a hard blow to be oblii^ed to leave the 
Maine',' he says, " and we waited until we were 

D 



34 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

satisfied that she rested on the bottom of the 
harbor. Lieutenant-commander Wainwright then 
directed everybody to get into the boats — an easy 
operation ; one had only to step directly from the 
deck into the boat. I suggested the propriety of 
my being the last to leave and requested my officers 
to precede me, which they did." 

Fifteen minutes after his sad leave-taking of the 
stranded Maine, in which had gone to death, as 
Captain Sigsbee bears witness, "as worthy and 
true patriots as those we have lost in battle,' but 
whose fate was an even sadder one," the com- 
mander of the Maine had sent his famous despatch, 
which announced the disaster and restrained the 
hot wrath of a nation. 

The attitude of President McKinley, also, — cool, 
calm, and deliberate, peace-loving, but loving justice 
more than all — strengthened what the President 
himself characterized as "the sturdy good sense of 
the national character" as well as its own "instinct 
of justice," and held it curbed and silent until the 
Board of Inquiry made public its decision. 

This decision came after the deliberations of the 
commission or Board of Inquiry, which had been 
in session for twenty-three days in Havana harbor 
and at Key West. It was the result of a careful 



WHY CONGRESS GAVE FIFTY MILLIONS 35 

and complete examination, in whic'li, however, it 
must be said Spain had no opiDortunity to present 
lier side of the case. llie finding of the Board 
declared that the Maine was ex})loded by a sub- 
marine mine; but how this was done, Ijy whom 
placed and when, by whom set off and how, the 
Hoard could not decide through lack of positive 
testimony, and the mystery of the Maine is still 
an unexplained and unfathomed jiroblem. But by 
the people of the Ignited States the responsibility 
for the traoedv which slaughtered two hundred 
and sixty-four American blue-jackets in the harbor 
of Havana was sternly and righteously placed upon 
the nation which should have been a orenerous host 
rather than a diabolical destroyer, and u})on Spain, 
and Spain alone, rests the responsibility for the 
terrible cry, "Remember the Mainc^ which, more 
than philanthropy, more than humanity, more than 
love of liberty even, drove a peaceful nation into 
war and brought a proud kingdom to disaster, 
dismemberment, and loss. 

But it was not alone this fierce and bitter cry 
for justice that drove the republic into war. While 
the loss of the Maine touched the great heart of the 
people even more than the woes of reconcentrados 
and the struggle of patriots, the claims of humanity 



36 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



and protection joined hands with impatience and 
commercial interest, and set afoot a widespread pub- 
He demand for some immediate and definite action. 
It filled the press with clamor, captured the Con- 
gress by its persistency, and bore with tremendous 
force upon the President, to whom the will of the 
people must be the supreme law. 



1 


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'V^. 






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^___Ljm«ilfr 


-g 


HkikSjl 


i^inim 


^■*i^ """ '"' 




■ * .m 3 


"J^^fl^HTT^nHli^ 


1 








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^B^^^^^^^^H^LxT 


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'T.I..-J^^v?^:"i3g'^g' 


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■ 



A CUBAN FAK!VI-HOUSE. 
('riie home of the reconcentrados.) 



William McKinley saw that a crisis was at hand; 
he knew that war was inevitable ; but he knew, too, 
that to precipitate the country, unprepared for hos- 
tilities, into the unknown disturbances and possi- 
bilities of a foreign war, might be fraught with the 
gravest dangers to the republic. But the President 



WIIV CONC^.RESS GAVri Fim' MILLIONS 37 

was by nature shrewd as well as sagacious, politic 
as well as jjatriotic, deliberate as well as deter- 
mined. l)ef()rc the loss of the Maine he had felt 
that actual hostilities niiirht be averted and that the 
calm methods ot diplomacy might secure the ends 
he had in view. Hut the destruction of the Maine 
chamied this. It shut all the avenues of action 
save one — and that one was war. 

Bui William McKinley had been a soldier him- 
self in the irrealest of all American contiict.^. lie 
knew what war meant ; he knew, too. what an 
unreadiness for war meant to a nation, which, at 
peace for thirty-three years, rushed into strife with- 
out forethought and marched to battle without 
preparation. 

Hotheaded and unreasoning men who developed 
a sudden and feverish patriotism united with news- 
papers as choleric and overheated, and charged the 
President with hesitancy and indecision, because 
he did not at once fill Cuba with soldiers he did 
not have and invade S})ani.^h territory with ships 
and sailors that must W rubbed into existence 
as .suddenly and miraculously as with Aladdin's 
lamp. 

War was inevitable, but delay was preparation. 
A vast seacoabt lay almost totally undefended 



38 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

against the invasion of a foreign power; the regu- 
lar fighting force of the United States Army was 
far below the smallest limit, and the militia was 
by no means on a war footing. 

So, while saying in his message to Congress 
which, on the twenty-eighth day of March made 
public the finding of the Board of Inquiry, " I do 
not permit myself to doubt that the sense of justice 
of the Spanish nation will dictate a course of action 
suggested by honor and the friendly relations of 
the two governments," President McKinley himself 
determined to forestall that course of action by 
making ready for whatever might happen, remem- 
bering the words of Washington : " To be prepared 
for war is one of the most effectual means of pre- 
serving peace." 

It is well that the boys and girls of America 
who, later, must study and take to heart the 
events that made the year 1898 historic should 
consider the task which had fallen to William 
McKinley as the chief executive — the responsible 
head of the republic. He must not only ignore 
politics and keep the nation from being divided 
in opinion, but he must at the same time put on 
foot preparations for an unknown and possibly 
wide-reaching war demanding the services of hun- 



WHY CONGRESS GAVE FIFTY MILLIONS 39 

drcds of thousands of fiohtins: men ; he must not 
only prevent EurojDcan interference and meddling, 
perhaps open hostility, but he must delay the 
aetual shock of war until the American Army 
and Navy, recruited from an unwarlike people, 
could be put into some sort of readiness and dis- 
cipline, and he must, above all, so hold and handle 
the Cono;ress that it should neither force an unwise 
recognition of the shadowy Cuban republic, a sud- 
den and unsupported declaration of war, nor a 
hopeless division of action by the lack of executive 
decision and will. 

All of these mighty "musts" the President of 
the United States did perform, and he performed 
them so calmly, so deliberately, so sagaciously, and 
yet so quietly but firmly, that the spectacle was 
presented to the world of an absolutely united 
and patriotic Congress, composed of varying and 
even antagonistic political elements, responding, 
without a word of objection, to the President's 
suggestion of his needs, and placing in his hands 
by the magnificent vote of 311 to o in the House 
of Representatives and also by a unanimous vote in 
the Senate the sum of fiftv millions of dollars "for 
the national defence and for each and every pur- 
pose connected therewith, to be expended at the dis- 



40 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

cretion of the President." It was a superb recogni- 
tion of the republic's trust in the man within whose 
hands it had placed the direction of its affairs. 

The President was overjoyed at this mark of 
confidence, but he appreciated the fact that this 
act of providing for possibilities came none too 
soon. " Our coasts," he has since explained, " were 
practically undefended ; our navy needed large pro- 
vision for increased ammunition and supplies and 
even numbers to cope with any sudden attack from 
the navy of Spain, which comprised modern ves- 
sels of the highest type of continental perfection ; 
our army also required enlargement of men and 
munitions." 

We are too apt to think that Spain was a foe- 
man scarce worthy of our steel ; but this is neither 
just nor true. Spain had been a fighting nation for 
a thousand years ; she was on a continual " war 
footing," always ready for assaults, rebellions, or 
defence ; had she taken advantage of her possi- 
bilities, she might have made a sudden and disas- 
trous descent upon our defenceless coasts, for her 
navy, as the President declares, comprised some 
most formidable fighting ships, and she had in the 
islands of Cuba and Porto Rico nearly two hun- 
dred thousand armed and disciplined soldiers. 



WIIV CONGRESS fl.WF V]V\\ Ml 1,1, ION'S 41 

Acfainst this force the United States liad a re<>u- 
lar arniv of less tliaii twenty-five thousand men, 
wliilc the militia of the several states thouoh con- 
siderable in numbers was ill-prepared for the actual 
state of war ; the navy, too, needed strengthening 
alike in ships and men, although the remarkable 
discipline of years of peace, thanks to a wise super- 




SPANISH TKOOPEKS. 
(As seen in the streets of Santiago.) 

intendence of naval affairs, had brouQ:ht its marines 
and blue-jackets to a surprising scale of precision 
and perfection. 

So, with fifty millions of dollars at his command, 
the President, as executive head of the government, 
and as commander-in-chief of its armv and navy, 
rested neither night nor day, in his preparation for 



42 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

equipment and defence. But at the same time, he 
Hnked with preparation for war endeavors toward 
continued peace. 

To the foreign nations who urged him to a 
peaceful solution of the matter, President Mc- 
Kinley returned a courteous but non-committal 
answer, declaring to the envoys of the Powers that 
he shared their hope that peace might be pre- 
served, that the injurious and menacing condition 
of disturbance in Cuba might be terminated, but 
adding that, while appreciating " the humanitarian 
and disinterested character of the communication 
they had presented on behalf of the Powers," he 
was still confident that the United States with 
earnest and unselfish endeavor would fulfil the 
" duty to humanity by ending a situation the 
indefinite prolongation of which had become insuf- 
ferable." All of which was a polite, courteous, and 
what is called diplomatic way of requesting the 
Powers of Europe to mind their own business 
and allow us to take care of our own. 

That the condition of affairs in Cuba grew more 
and more "insufferable" the slow action of the ex- 
pected " reforms " by Spain amply proved. Madrid 
promised; but Havana did not perform. The so- 
called Parliament of Cuba established by Spain for 



WHY COxXGRESS GAVE FIFTY MILLIONS 43 

a pretended self-L^overnnienl could neitlier govern 
nor stand alone. It was supported by the bayonets 
of Spain rather than by the will of the Cubans, and 
death and destruction still wasted the beautiful 
island. 

Then it was that the President of the United 
States determined no longer to resist the demands 
of the republic. On the eleventh of .April, 1898, 
he sent a message to Congress in which he re- 
viewed the whole sorry situation of the distressed 
and fettered island of Cuba and declared that the 
hour had arrived for America to act. 

He explained that the existing rebellion in Cuba 
was but one in a continuous series of insurrections 
against Spain which, for more than fifty years, had 
kept that fair land in disturbance and unrest ; 
which had threatened the security, comfort, com- 
merce, and self-control of the United States, while 
the barbarities of the present government, like 
those of its predecessors, had "shocked the sensi- 
bilities and offended the humane sympathies " of 
the American people. 

Neutrality, he declared, was ruinous to Cuba's 
prosperity and expensive to America; this loss 
and risk had, he said, "so sorely tried the temper 
and forbearance of our people as to beget a peril- 



44 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



ous unrest " openly expressed by the people in 
their newspapers and through their chosen state 
and national representatives. 

His efforts toward friendly mediation and help, 
he declared, had been refused by Spain. The only 
result of the existing conflict between Spaniard 




THE HOME OF A SUGAR PLANTER. 
(On one of the plantations near Santiago.) 

and Cuban must, he felt certain, be subjugation 
or extermination stretched through a long period of 
years — "a contingency hardly to be contemplated 
with equanimity by the civilized world," he de- 
clared, "and least of all by the United States, 
affected and injured, deeply and intimately, by 
its very existence." 

If Spain would not give way either to Cuban 



WHY CONGRESS GAVE FIFTV MILLIONS 45 

revolution or to AuKTican mediation ; if it were 
iin\\i>c to recognize the belligerent right> or inde- 
pendence of Cuba as a free republic. — as, under 
the circumstances, did appear most unwise; if. as 
the destruction of the Maine in Havana harbor 
proved, there was neither safety nor security for 
an American warshij), rightfully sent to Cuban 
waters on a mission of peace; if, finally, there was 
no wav but one to determine or soke this unbeara- 
ble problem at our doors, — then, declared Presi- 
dent INIcKinley, that one wav must be taken. 

What that one wav w^as all men knew, — armed 
intervention ; notice to Spain to quit. 

" The Ions: trial." wrote the President to Con- 
gress, " has proved that the object for which Spain 
has w-aoed war cannot be attained. The fire of 
insurrection may flame or may smoulder with 
\arvinir seasons, but it has not been and it is 
plain that it cannot be extinguished by present 
methods. The only hope of relief and repose 
from a condition which can no longer be endured 
is the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name 
of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf 
of endangered American interests which give us 
the right and the duty to speak and to act, the 
war in Cuba must stop." 



46 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

These strong and commanding words, deliber- 
ately determined upon and calmly proclaimed, 
found an echo in every true American heart, 
though the hot-headed still declared that the Presi- 
dent had not gone far enough, and the peace-at- 
any-price people declared he had gone too far. 
But that " sturdy good sense of the American 
people," upon which President McKinley always 
relied, and which can ever be depended upon for 
decision, justice, and action, again asserted itself, 
and upheld the President in his firm and final 
stand. 

On the thirteenth of April, Senator Davis of the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs introduced a report 
upon the condition of affairs in Cuba and the 
responsibility of Spain, w^iich closed with a reso- 
lution declaring that " the people of Cuba are and 
of right ought to be free and independent ; " that 
it was the duty of the United States to demand, 
"and the government of the United States does 
hereby demand," that Spain relinquish its authority 
over Cuba and withdraw its forces from the island, 
and that "the President of the United States be, 
and hereby is, directed and empowered to use the 
entire land and naval forces of the United States 
and to call into the actual service of the United 



wiiv coxGRFSs r.Avr: fifty mh.ftons 47 

States tlic niilitia of the several States to such an 
extent as may be necessary to carry tliese resolu- 
tions into effect.'' 

For a week this resolution was debated in Con- 
gress by those who wished to uj)hold and those 
who wished to forge far ahead of the President. 
I'^inally it was jiassed unanimously by both houses 
with this significant announcement: "Resolved, 
that the United States hci-cl)\' disclaims any dis- 
position or intention to exercise sovereignty, juris- 
diction, or control over said island, except for the 
pacification thereof, and asserts its determination 
when that is accomplished to leave the government 
and control of the island to its people." 

At noon, on the twentieth of April, President 
McKinley, in the presence of his Cabinet, signed 
this joint resolution, and the United States of 
America was committed to its policy of armed 
interference in the affairs of Spain and Cuba. 

Events followed rapidly. The new Spanish nn'nis- 
terat Washington, ui)on being officially informed of 
what Congress and the President had decided, at 
once withdrew from Washington ; the Queen Re- 
gent of Spain, in presence of the Cortes or Parlia- 
ment of Spain, called upon " the sons of Spain " to 
repel this "outrage" by America; the United 



48 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

States minister at Madrid withdrew from Spain ; 
and this " breaking of diplomatic relations," as it is 
called, was considered an act of war alike by 
America and the civilized world; so that war 
between the United States and Spain is definitely 
decided to have been actually declared on the 
twenty-first of April, 1898, when Spain, having 
refused to accede to the demands of the United 
States and relinquish its authority in Cuba, withdrew 
her representative from Washington, dismissed the 
United States minister from Madrid, and declared 
her intention to resist and punish the interference 
of America. 

At once, word that war had been virtually de- 
clared was telegraphed from Washington to the 
admiral commanding the United States naval fleet 
at Key West, and on the twenty-third of April 
President McKinley issued a proclamation calling 
for one hundred and twenty-five thousand volun- 
teers to enlist in the war against Spain. 



CHAPTER III 



now TIIK WAR REGAN 



WAR is a terrible necessity. Some eminent 
and noble nien have denied tliat it is a 
necessity and boldly maintained that " there is no 
such thinij: as an honorable war or a dishonor- 
able peace." The world s successful fighters have 
detested it. " \\ ar is the trade of barbarians," ex- 
claimed Napoleon, the conqueror of Europe. 
Washington abhorred it; Lincoln fought against 
it ; and drant, America's greatest soldier, hated 
and despised it. 

" Let us ha\e peace " was the great general's 
most famous declaration ; but war as a means of 
peace was his acceptance of the necessity of war. 

In this light the war with Spain was a necessity. 
It became the one and only way of securing the 
pacification of Cuba, and the ending of those gen- 
erations of horror and injustice which, for four 
hundred years, had marked Spain's government in 
America. 

E 49 



50 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

" Occasional war and, therefore, constant pre- 
paredness for war," says President Eliot of Har- 
vard, " are still necessary to national security, just 
as police and courts and prisons are still indispen- 
sable to social order and individual freedom in the 
most civilized and peaceful states." So the repub- 
lic of the United States declared itself the police- 
man of America, and set out to arrest and punish 
the chief disturber of the peace and security of 
America — Spain in Cuba. 

To accomplish this it had an army and navy of 
unknown possibilities and uncertain strength. Its 
regular army numbered, as I have told you, some- 
what less than twenty-five thousand men ; its vol- 
unteer militia or national guard, organized by the 
forty-five states of the Union, amounted to about 
one hundred and fifteen thousand men, some of 
them better equipped for war than at any other 
national crisis, and yet none of them really pre- 
pared for actual war. The navy of the United 
States, remodelled and strengthened during thirty 
years of peace, had powerful fighting ships and well- 
drilled seamen, and comprised a fleet of thirty war- 
ships large and small, and fifteen thousand marines 
and sailors. There was also in certain of the 
states a sort of sea-militia, known as the Naval 



HOW THE WAR REGAN 



51 




NEAR MATANZAS. 
(A volante, or Cuban carriage, the principal vehicle of Matanzas.) 

Reserve, of whose ability little was known thouirh 
nuich was hoped. This Naval Reserve amounted 
to less than four thousand men. 

But behind regulars, jackies, militia-men, and 
naval reserves there were fully six millions of Amer- 
ican citizens of fiorhtin<j: aq-e, " able to bear arms." 
To these the President's proclamation came as 
a summons, and the response to his call for vol- 
unteers was immediate and enthusiastic. It was 
fully ten to one; for over a million of the six avail- 
able millions expressed their desire to serve in the 
one hundred and twenty-five thousand required. 



52 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Later, an additional call for seventy-five thousand 
men — " for good measure" — was issued, and, with 
the increase in the forces of the regular army and 
navy, a fighting force of over two hundred and 
seventy-five thousand men answered the call of the 
President. 

It took time and an immense amount of labor to 
get this fighting force into fighting trim. The 
navy was ready first. A few additional warships 
were purchased abroad ; picked steamships and 
yachts were bought, borrowed, or hired at home, 
and the fighting force of the navy, thanks to the 
sleepless energy and foresight of the navy depart- 
ment, was increased until it comprised four battle- 
ships of the first class; one battleship of the second 
class ; two armored cruisers ; six coast defence 
monitors ; one armored ram ; twelve protected 
cruisers ; three unprotected cruisers ; eighteen 
gunboats ; one dynamite cruiser ; eleven torpedo 
boats; vessels of the old navy, including monitors, 
fourteen. Auxiliary : eleven auxiliary cruisers, 
twenty-eight converted yachts, twenty-seven con- 
verted tugs, fifteen converted colliers, fifteen reve- 
nue cutters, seven lighthouse tenders, and nineteen 
miscellaneous vessels, — one hundred and ninety- 
five keels of war, fighters or assistant fighters all. 



now THE WAR BEGAN 53 

The men enlisting as soldiers in the several 
states (divided according to the proportionate sizes 
of their states into what is known as quotas) were 
attached to certain accepted regiments of the state 
militia ; these, however, were accepted not as state 
militia, but as reiiiments of the United States volun- 
tecr army sworn into the service of the United 
States for " two years or the war." These regiments 
were first mustered in at the state camp grounds of 
their home state ; there they were drilled and dis- 
ciplined until ready to be transferred to the na- 
tional camp grounds located in states nearer to the 
coast or the seat of war — X'irginia, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, Texas, and Florida — from which camps they 
were to be despatched as needed for actual service 
in the field. 

War is a costly necessity. To clothe, feed, drill, 
provide for, and transport this armed force of 
three hundred thousand men on land and sea, 
as well as to meet the salary and support of the 
small armv of men and animals that contributed 
to the success of campaigns, from the high-placed 
Secretaries of War and the Navy with their assist- 
ants, down to the ]Dettiest camp or ship assistant 
and the smallest burro, demanded an outlay of a 
fortune a day. Medical officers, hospital helpers 



54 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

and nurses, the thirteen hundred men of the war 
telegraph and telephone service called the signal 
corps, with the men of the engineer corps, the 
secret service men, and the camp and ship helpers, 
known as non-combatants (teamsters and cooks, 
scouts and pilots, secretaries, stenographers, mes- 
sengers and hostlers, firemen, coal passers and 
transport men), — these and other helpers, high and 
humble, were necessary to keep the armed forces 
of the republic in fighting trim afloat and ashore. 

The fifty millions of dollars so unanimously 
placed in the hands of the President by the Con- 
gress was speedily used up for the preliminaries 
of getting ready. More money, and a great deal 
of it, w^as needed when war was actually decided 
upon. National defence was one thing; foreign 
invasion was another and a much more serious 
demand. 

But Congress was no laggard in this matter. 
The stamp tax, only resorted to in times of 
national necessity, was adopted and levied, and a 
popular loan of money for war expenses was 
determined upon. By the provisions of this " War 
Loan Act," the sum of two hundred millions of 
dollars was asked for from the people, for the use 
of which the government agreed to pay an annual 



HOW IIIF': WAR BKGAN 55 

interest of tliree i)er eent. In order that the 
jieople mii;ht make this loan tlieniselves, and not 
the rich men and great money corporations, tlie 
act dechired that no one should be allowed to 
take more than five thousand dollars of the bonds 
issued to secure this loan, while those who could 
only afford to lend the government ten dollars 
could })rocure war bonds to that amount. 

The result was startling. So great was the peo- 
jjle's faith in the strength, resources, and faith 
of the government that purchasers rushed to buy 
the bonds ; indeed, had the loan been many times 
larger, it would have been at once taken up; for 
the subscriptions to the two hundred million dol- 
lar war loan were exceeded to five times that 
amount. The readiness with which Congress 
and the people su})plied the funds needed to 
carry on the war, besides strengthening the gov- 
ernment, gratifying the President, and giving con- 
fidence to the nation, had a great effect upon 
foreiun nations; for it was a revelation of the vast 
resources and internal strength of the United 
States, and led the nations of the earth to hesitate 
before giving aid and comfort to enemies of the 
great republic across the sea. One after another 
they hastened to declare their neutrality in the 



56 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

war between the United States and Spain ; in 
this they were led on by England, our old-time 
foe, but now an open friend, bound by ties of 
race and speech to the republic which so largely 
sprang from her blood and was now to face in 
fioht that nation with which EnoHsh war-men 
had grappled, from the Armada to Trafalgar. 

That the days of the Armada and Trafalgar, 
of Drake and Nelson, were not the days of this 
generation was shown at the very outset of hos- 
tilities, when, in his proclamation of April twenty- 
six. President McKinley announced to the world 
that, although not a party to the agreement en- 
tered into by European nations forty years ago 
and known as " the declaration of Paris," the 
United States would issue no letters of marque and 
permit no privateering, — that legalized robbery on 
the high seas. The Spanish government, also not 
a party to the Paris declaration, promised the same 
total abstinence from permission to plunder ; so, 
while ships of war were allowed to make prizes of 
the enemy's merchant ships, at least the brutal 
privateering, which in all the sea-wars of old had 
been allowed and legalized, was not practised or 
permitted. The world, indeed, grows better and 
more humane as it grows older. 



HOW VHK WAR BEGAN 57 

Against tin- regular and volunteer armies of the 
I'nitcd States, and against her ships and seamen, 
were to be pitted the trained soldiers and the new- 
navy of S})ain, two hundred thousand men and one 
hundred and thirty warships; and though these 
otiicial figures proved somewhat misleading, they 
were of sufficient weight to set all the coast towns 
from Eastport to Galveston and from Seattle to 
San Dieiro in a tl utter of excitement for fear a 
Spanish fleet should swoop down upon an extended 
and uni)rotected coast-line to ravage and destroy. 
People, of course, were needlessly disturbed by this 
" buofaboo " of a Spanish f^eet, and I know of more 
than one simple-minded fisherman on the Maine 
coast who sent wife and family far into the interior, 
lest the white house on the headland overlooking 
the sea should become the victim of Spanish bru- 
tality when " them Spaniards " came sailing along 
the shores, bearing to peaceful homes destruction 
and death. 

The government api:)reciated this coast-wide fear, 
and hastened to allay it as far as limited time and 
actual war needs permitted. Nearly sixteen bun- 
dled mines were planted in the larger harbors of 
the Atlantic and Pacific shores; these, it was be- 
lie\ed, would restrain or destroy S])ain's marauding 



58 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

fleets; forts were strengthened, batteries planted, 
and twelve thousand infantry and artillery men 
were detached for coast defence, while the naval 
militia of the several states manned the purchased 
or hired ships of the Auxiliary Navy and patrolled 
the coast to watch for and give warning of Spanish 
invasion. 

But this never came. Spain's interests were 
elsewhere. Her work was, throughout the war, 
defensive rather than offensive, and the superior 
discipline and seamanship of the American navy 
permitted no possibility for a descent upon Ameri- 
can coast cities for tribute or destruction. 

Meantime the army gathered for the invasion of 
Cuba was being worked into shape. Even the 
regulars, trained to endure heat and cold, needed 
to be " acclimated " in the soft southern air of the 
national camps before they could be transported to 
the more enervating climate of a Cuban summer, 
or even that of healthier Porto Rico. This smaller 
island the government had decided to seize and 
invade first, as a base of operations against the 
more formidable Spaniards of Cuba, and as a 
section better fitted for the massing and feeding of 
troops than the ravaged and war-stripped island 
of Cuba. 



HOW THE WAR BEGAN 



59 



Just li(nv much assistance the struggling patriots 
of Cuba, with their uncertain, scattered, ill-fed, and 
poorly disciplined army of guerilla fighters, could 
give to the soldiers of the United States was an 
uncertain question. 




Far off in eastern 
Cuba, beyond the 
mountains and in 
the wasted valley 
of the Cauto River, 
once the grarden 
spot of Cuba, lay 
the j)atriot general 
Calixto Garcia, and 
his small but brave 
command. To him, 
rather than to the 
hidden and uncer- 
tain insurfjent Cu- 
ban frovernment, 
the War Depart- 
ment despatched a secret messenger. This was 
Lieutenant Rowan, a srraduate of West Point, 
and a trustworthy, courageous, and skilful offi- 
cer. In silence and secrecy, now in an open 
boat, escaping Spanish watchfulness, now crawling 



\ CUBAN SOLDIKR. 
(Scout, guide, and irregular figliter.) 



6o OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

through thickets or riding fifty miles a clay over 
abandoned roads or through the dense Cuban 
forests, fording rivers, braving the danger of arrest 
and death as a spy, but all the time safely guided 
by Cuban scouts. Lieutenant Rowan at last reached 
the camp of Garcia. Then, with scarcely a half- 
day's wait between the delivery of his secret de- 
spatches and the receipt of his equally secret reply, 
the brave lieutenant pushed on with his messages 
across to the northern side of the island, again 
braving danger and death, and again escaping 
Spanish vigilance, until at last in an open boat 
he reached Jamaica and safety, and then Tampa, 
Washington, and appreciation. 

For he had done just what he was detailed to 
do — located the patriot camp, arranged for the 
cooperation of Garcia, and brought to the govern- 
ment the reports most desired. For his good work 
he was complimented by the War Department, 
made a lieutenant-colonel, and ofificially thanked by 
General Miles, the head of the American army, for 
having performed " an act of heroism and cool dar- 
ing that has rarely been excelled in the annals of 
warfare." 

Lieutenant Rowan reported to the War Depart- 
ment the result of his mission to Garcia on the 



I 



HOW 111 I". WAR i;i-:GAN 



6i 



elcxcntli of Ma\-. lUit, l)if()re tliat date, the crisis 
had })asscd and dcla\- luid hur>l into action. It 
was well to delay for the purposes of possible peace 
or a hnal preparation ; but to the men on the war- 




A TVIMCAL 1 AR.M-HorSl!:. 
(In the eastern department of Cuba.) 



ships rendezvoused off the Florida coast, peace 
seemed preposterous, and delay was maddening. 

In fact, on the \ery day on which Lieutenant 
Rowan arrived at Kin^rston on the island of |a- 



62 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

maica to prepare for his perilous mission, — the 
twenty-first of April, 1898, — the blue-jackets of 
Uncle Sam's navy were straining like hounds in 
leash anxious to spring. 

Framed by the blue water and bluer sky, in the 
coral-reef harbor of Key West, the big warships, in 
their lead-colored war-paint, swung lazily at their 
moorings ; from the captain commanding to the 
lowest mess-boy there was fretting at delay, and 
fear lest things would be so " fixed up " that the 
new American navy would have no opportunity to 
show proof of its years of drilling and months of 
perfected preparations. For Uncle Sam's blue- 
jackets certainly were spoiling for a fight. They 
"remembered the Maine''' \ they could not forget 
their murdered comrades ; they believed in the 
prowess of their warships and the justice of their 
cause; they knew the might and mettle of the men 
behind the guns ; they burned to put all these to 
the test and show the republic of what sort of 
fighting material the white navy (dulled now by 
its gray war-domino) was made. 

So, with fires banked and everything ready for 
departure, the squadron lay at Key West, waiting ; 
so, going through their daily routine of ship and 
shore duty, the squadron's officers and men waited 



HOW Till-: WAR BEGAN 63 

and grumbled. Suddenly, on the afternoon of the 
twenty-second of April, across the wires that 
stretched from Washington, over the land and 
under the sea to Key West, flashed the cipher 
despatch that read when translated : " War is 
declared ; fleet ordered to sea." 

That despatch woke the sleepy April air of Key 
West into instant action. It sent the loiterers on 
shore hurrying to their ships; it sent the men on 
shipboard speeding this way and that, all about 
their big, floating war-homes, from conning-tower 
to boiler-room, making everything trim and ship- 
shape; it made Captain Sampson of the great 
armored cruiser iVczu York Admiral Sampson of 
the blockading squadron ; it cast off the mooring- 
chains of those ships that were ready, it hastened 
the coaling of those not quite ready, and it sent, at 
four o'clock on the morning of April twenty-third, 
the thirteen terrible warships at the Key West 
rendezvous steaming out to sea, headed for Cuba 
and for real war at last. 

Four days after the shock of real war came. 
During those four davs a few inoffensive and un- 
thinking Spanish merchantmen, ignorant of the 
declaration of war, hove to as the i;uns of the war- 
ships fired across their bows, and the prize crews 



64 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



of the warships sailed them as prizes into port; 
these, however, did not really count as war. 

But as, on the twenty-seventh of April, the 
flagship Ah'w York, the steel cruiser Cincinnati, 
and the monitor Puritan drifted off the mouth of 
the harbor of Matanzas, Cuba's second largest 
citv, fiftv-two miles east from Havana, sharp eyes 




VIEW FROM THE YUML'RI VALLEY, NEAR MATAXZAS. 

(The Guadeloupe hills. From an etching by Blaney.) 

and ijood orlasses on the lookout could see the 
blue-bloused soldiers of Spain piling up the yel- 
low soil of Matanzas into fortifications against 
the Yankee invaders. 

At once the signals raced from bridge to engine- 
room ; the buHe rang: out its melodious call to 
quarters; officers and blue-jackets, middies and 
marines, rushed to their proper stations, and Cap- 



HOW riir; war began 65 

tain Chadwick of the AVr*.^ )'<■>/'/• called out to the 
bovish ensi<>ii wlio, oraduatinor from the Naval 
Academy at Annapolis before his full course was 
comiileted, was oiven charge of the biir o-uns " in 
the waist." amidships, " Aim for four thousand 
yards; aim for that bank on the point!" 

RiiD, crash, bano! went the [{reat oun, settinir 
the big warship a-shiver with concussion and 
vibration ; a cloud of smoke swuno- across the 
deck; far away on the shore the yellow dirt of 
the earthworks, stung by the plunging shot, 
leaped fifty feet in air; the guns of the turrets, 
fore and aft, tlumdered out and wreathed the 
ship in smoke; the Puritan and the Ciucnnia/i\ 
joining in, opened on the shore batteries that had 
replied with Spanish shot to Yankee projectile; but 
the Yankee fire tore the new-flung ramparts, while 
the Spanish shots spluttered and fell in the water 
three hundred feet short of damasre. 

For fifteen minutes the dialoo-ue of fire flashed 
and roared across the blue water of Matanzas har- 
bor ; then, the Spanish batteries were silenced ; the 
signal "cease firing" flew from the flagship; the 
Yankee warships steamed awaw and Ensign Boone, 
the Annapolis schoolboy, had the proud satisfaction 
of really opening the war. 



CHAPTER IV 



HOW ADMIRAL DEWEY SPENT HIS MAY-DAY 

FAR away across the 
western ocean, thou- 
sands of miles from home, 
there rode at anchor in va- 
rious harbors in the early 
spring days of 1898 a half- 
dozen warships of the 
United States navy known 
as the Asiatic Squadron. 

This fleet was under the 
command of Commodore 
George Dewey, one of " Farragut's boys " of the 
old war-days, a cool, clear-headed, and masterful 
man of the true Farragut sort. His flagship was 
the second-class steel cruiser Olympia, of four eight- 
inch and five ten-inch guns, which, with the steel 
cruisers Baltimore, Raleigh, Coueoi^d, and Boston, the 
gunboat P.etrel, and the despatch boat Hugh Mc- 
Culloch, composed the little fleet in Asiatic waters. 

66 




AliMIRAL DEWEY. 



HOW ADMIRAL DFAVFA' SrENT HIS MAY-DAY 67 

Across tlic Cliiiia Sea, four hundred miles and 
more from tlie iNIalayan coast, arc the Phih*])pine 
Ishmds, discovered and occupied for Spain by 
the famous world-circler Magellan, who named 
them for Spain's most ])o\verful emperor, Philip 
the Second, great-grandson of that Ferdinand and 
Isabella who sent Columbus on his wonderful 
western voyage. 

The Phili]0]:)ine Islands are some twelve hun- 
dred in number, of all shapes and sizes, four hun- 
dred of them only being inhabited. They are 
poor in present circumstances, thanks to Spain's 
sellibh rule, but they are rich in possibilities. 
Upon the largest island, Luzon, stands the capital 
of the Philippines, Manila, a city of perhaps one 
huiKlrcd and sixty thousand inhabitants — Spain's 
stronghold on the Pacific. For years, these rich 
but misgoverned islands had been, like Cuba, in 
revolt against S]oanish rule, now open and destruc- 
tive, now slumbering and expiring, as Spanish gold 
rather than Spanish arms subdued the malcontents. 

One of these malcontents, an educated Filipino 
named Fmilio Aouinaldo, had gone as a fugitive 
to Hong Kong. There the enterprising and ag- 
gressive representative or consul-general of the 
United States, Rounsevelle Wildman, had conferred 



68 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

with the refugee, opened correspondence with the 
equally enterprising assistant secretary of the navy 
at Washino'ton, Theodore Roosevelt, with the re- 
suit that, long before war was declared, an under- 
standing was reached by which, if war should 
come. Commodore Dewey would make a sudden 
descent upon Manila, the Spanish stronghold. 

War was declared, and the watchful Navy De- 
partment at once, on April 24, telegraphed to 
Commodore Dewey, who was collecting his little 
fleet at Hono- Konor ; " War has been commenced 

o o 

between the United States and Spain. Proceed 
at once to the Philippine Islands. Commence 
operations at once, particularly against Spanish 
fleet. You must capture vessels or destroy. Use 
utmost endeavors." 

Prompt and efificient in his preparations, Dewey 
had already been using his " utmost endeavors " 
to get ready for his trip to the Philippines. He 
had concentrated his ships, bought two large trans- 
ports which he loaded with coal and supplies for 
his fleet, and when, on the twenty-fifth of April, 
the British governor of Hong Kong, anxious to 
keep the British assurance of neutrality unbroken, 
desired the commodore to remove his fleet from 
neutral waters, Dewey steamed to Mirs Bay, in 








c 
« 

o 
— o 



^ i) 






HOW ADMIRAL DEWFV Sl'F.XT HIS MAV-DAV /i 

Chinese territory thirty miles from Hong Kong, 
and tlierc comj^leted his preparations. 

These required scarcely two days for the " finish- 
ing touches," and on the afternoon of the twenty- 
seventh the fleet struck across the China Sea, 
headed for Luzon and Manila. 

It was not so much Manila as the Spanisli fleet 
for which Dewey was headed. The first desire of 
the Navy Department was to clear the seas of 
Spanish warships. That accomplished, the fear 
of Spanish invasion would be removed, and the 
hands of the government would be free for the 
one act to which it was pledged, — the forcible 
expulsion of Spain from the island of Cuba; and 
that is why Dewey sailed to Manila. 

In the landlocked harbor of Manila lay the fleet 
of the Spanish Admiral Montojo, commanding in 
Asiatic waters. The Spanish fleet in numbers 
fully doubled the American fleet. It comprised 
thirteen in all, — one big steel cruiser, one wooden 
cruiser, three smaller cruisers, two English-built 
gunboats, two gun-vessels, one despatch boat, one 
auxiliary cruiser, and two torpedo boats. Alto- 
gether, this fleet had neither the fighting strength 
nor the superb discijDline of Dewey's four fine 
cruisers, but it lay within the harbor under the 



72 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

protection of the great guns of the well-manned 
Spanish fortifications, and such a thing as " Yankee 
success " seemed out of the question. 

Indeed, that was the whole tenor of the bombas- 
tic proclamation of the Spanish governor-general 
when he heard that the American fleet had cleared 
for Manila. 

" The struQrole," he said, " will be short and de- 
cisive. The God of battles will give us one as 
brilliant as the justice of our cause demands. . . . 
A squadron manned by foreigners, possessing 
neither instruction nor discipline, is preparing to 
come to this archipelago with the rufflanly inten- 
tion of robbinq; us of all that means life, honor, and 
liberty. 

"Filipinos! prepare for the struggle; and, united 
under the glorious Spanish flag, which is ever 
covered with laurels, let us fight with the con- 
viction that victory will crown our efforts, and to 
the challenge of our enemies let us oppose, with 
the decision of the Christian and the patriot, the 
cry of ' Viva Espana ! ' " 

That cry appears to be all that the Spanish 
admiral did prepare to oppose to the American 
attack. For he seems to have taken few, if any, 
precautions, save to shelter himself under the guns 



HOW ADMIRAL l)i:\Vi:V Sl'KN 1' 1 1 IS MAV-UAV n 

of the fort^ wliith guarded the liarl)()r, and, as every 
one knows, one <'un on shore is considered to be 
wortli four al:)oard shi}). 

lUit wlien the shore is Spanish, and tlie shij) is 
American, history now records that what every one 
knows is not always so. For when, on the even- 
ing of \\W\\ 30, the tleet of Commodore Dewey, 
with all ports closed, and only one small li<j;ht on 
the stern of each ship as a guide to those that 
followed, arrived off the entrance to Manila Bay, 
the Spanish scout boats which the commodore 
supposed would be cruising outside on the watch 
for the invaders did not put in an api^earance. So 
he steered straight for the gun-crested heights of 
Corregidor Island, somewhere behind which, he 
knew, lay the Spanish f^eet he had been sent to 
destroy. 

Corregidor is a high and })recipitous island, lying 
one mile off shore and directly in the mouth of the 
entrance to ^Manila Hay, which is there about six 
miles wide. The island rises to a height of six 
hundred feet, and crowning its crest was a modern 
battery of big Krupp guns, — the best .^hip-destro)- 
ers in the world. Five miles across on the main- 
land was the rock-mounted battery of k-l iMaile, 
but throuorh the silent night the man who had been 



74 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

schooled by Farragut decided to follow Farragut's 
tactics and " run the batteries." 

Silently, quietly, in single file, the Olympia lead- 
ing, the fleet steamed into the bay, until they were 
well abreast of the looming height of Corregidor, 
frowning dimly through the dark. Then a shovel- 
ful of soft Japanese coal thrown on the fires of the 
McCulloch set the soot-lined smoke-stack aflame; 
a rocket, shot up from the Corregidor battery, gave 
the alarm; the invaders were discovered. But 
they kept straight on. It was midnight; the 
ships had all run well into the entrance of the 
bay, and, save for the signal rocket from Cor- 
regidor, no note of their discovery was taken, 
save as the answering signal lights flashed out 
along the shore. 

Suddenly a big gun from the rock-battery of El 
Fraile boomed out into the night, and a Spanish 
shell went'^screaming over the fleet. The Raleigh 
and the C^;^<;c'r</ gave a quick reply. "Just to tell 
them we're here," as one of the Yankee gunners 
said ; while the Boston, steering straight for El 
Fraile, opened fire upon the battery, and kept on 
firing until the Spanish guns were silenced. 

The rest of the fleet steamed on, through the 
darkness of the night, picking their way into a bay 



HOW ADMIRAL DFAVEY SPENT HIS MAY-DAY 75 

and liar1i(M- no one on Ijoard knew; IIktc was no 
pilot for the tieet ; neither the commodore nor 
his navigator had ever been in Manila; mines 
niighi lay strewn beneath the keels; guns might 
be trained upon tliem from the cml^attled heights 
or from the encircling shores. But, steering by 
chart, feeling their way, riglit forward into the 
unknown dano-ers of a blanketinu; ni"ht and a 
hostile harbor, bow to stern, the Olynipia leading, 
the commodore on the bridge, the fieet crept uj) 
the channel, unmolested and unstayed, and just 
as the quick-coming Asiatic dawn came up, as Kip- 
ling says, "like thunder cross the bay" on the 
morning of the first of May, the misty outline of 
the city of Manila came plainly into view. 

And there, across the little bay at the head of 
which lay Cavite with its Spanish arsenals and 
shipyards, the Spanish fleet rode at a.ichor, drawn 
up in battle array, but less prepared for real battle 
than ever rode a fleet of warships since Antony and 
Cleopatra lost the world at .Vctium, and Edward, 
the third Plantagenet, drowned the French off 
Sluys. Good shij)s, good guns, good powder, good 
equipments, and good men were in that Spanish 
fleet off Cavite in the Bay of Manila that fateful 
May-day morning; but Dewey had been too cpn'ck 



^6 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

for them ; they were simply, as the boy or girl 
at school called upon suddenly to recite an un- 
studied lesson is forced to answer, '' unprepared." 
The Yankee commodore and his men, however, 
could not know this, save as they might suspect 
it from the absent scout boats and the silent 
forts. Before them lay the fleet they had been 
sent to destroy; it was their duty to begin work 
at once. 

They did so. Still sailing in column, Indian 
file, with the stars and stripes streaming from 
gaff and masthead, the fleet steered straight for 
the Spanish line. A shore battery opened fire, 
but to no effect ; and every gun-captain with his 
crew stood at quarters ready for the signal which 
they knew must come. 

It came speedily. Straight on the Ohnupia 
steered until within seven thousand yards of the 
Spanish column; then the signal flashed far below 
to the engine-room, and, responsive to the touch, 
the helm swung to port, the bow veered around, 
and, with every warship following the same mo- 
tion, stem to stern, the American fleet sailed diag- 
onally broadside past the Spanish ships. 

It was half-past five on that brilliant morning 
of an Asiatic May-day; nearer and nearer drew 



HOW ADMIRAL DKWKV SIMCN l' HIS MAV-DAV 77 

tlic Yankee ships, silent, but threatening; at last 
they were within five thousand yards of the Span- 
ish line of battle; the excitable Don could stand 
the suspense no longer; and, even as Commodore 
Dewey, turning to the captain of the Olynipia, 
said calmly and quietly, " When you are ready, 
you may fire, Gridley," the first gun boomed out 
from the Rcina Christina, the Spanish fiagship, 
and the battle of Manila Bav had be<j:un. 

The two long guns of the Olympids forward tur- 
ret answ'ered the Spaniard's challenge, and as the 
smoke wreathed the flagship, every other fighter in 
the lead-colored Yankee squadron joined in and 
flung their crashing broadside straight at the Span- 
ish line. 

Stung to fur\- b\- this attack the Spanish gunners 
made instant reply; from ship and shore, from 
turret and gun-deck and battery, came the quick, 
nervous, aimless shell-shrieks of the " rattled " 
Spaniards; wliile, froni the arsenal and the city, 
boats put off, rowing like mad to carry to their 
respective ships the ofificers and men of Montojo's 
squadron, who had been spending the night ashore, 
never dreaming that tlie " \'ankee pigs" would come 
so soon or dare so much. 

Behind their gun> the men of Dewey's squadron 



78 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

stood to their work in that cahii and businesshke 
manner which is the result of superb disciphne. 
They had faith in their commodore and they were 
having a chance at " them Spaniards," the chance 
all sea-fighters crave. The story of their work 
seems easy as we read it now, but remember where 
they were and what they had to face. Seven 
thousand miles from home those six Yankee war- 
ships had sailed boldly into what, under other 
circumstances, might well have been a death-trap; 
confronted by a hostile fleet, encompassed by 
hostile shores, ringed about with hostile batteries 
and forts, thev had nevertheless "taken the initia- 
tive," and sailed straio-ht for victory or ruin; there 
was no alternative; they had simply "got to win"; 
every man, from the commodore on the bridge to 
the stoker at the blazing furnace, knew this, and 
proceeded to do, each man, his "level best." 

Now mark the difference between "getting rat- 
tled" and "keeping cool." For two hours seventy 
Spanish guns on ship and shore were hurling their 
deadly projectiles at a f^eet of six unprotected 
cruisers within easy range, and but one of their 
shells wounded a man or did any damage to the 
American ships; within that same space of time 
the American warships, steaming slowly five times 




DEWEV AT MANILA. 
("When you are ready, Gridley, you may begin.") 



HOW ADMIKAI, DKWIA' SI'lA 1' HIS M.W D.W -Si 

before the Spdiii.sh column and iiKiiiiied by blue- 
i.ickcl> who tor IweiUy-four hours had Ijccu held in 
readiness without sleep or rest, keyed u]) to tlie 
cxeitement of a foreseen battle, sent such a storm 
of well-directed shots at the Spanish tlcet, as to set 
the Sjxaniards' flagship ablaze, utterly silence the 
guns ot the big wooden cruiser, and put all the 
others out of tlie fight. 

Advancinir, turnino- and advancino' acrain. now 
the i)ort and now tlie starboard batteries of Dewey's 
fleet were constanth- in play; even as they circled 
about for one of these terrific broadsides, two mines, 
sunken for secret assassination, exploded just ahead 
of tlie Olyiiipias hctxw while two torpedo boats, 
dashing out from the Spanish column, sought to 
blow up the ship with their deadly missiles. Hut 
Dewey was ready for them. The mines exploded 
too far in advance to do any damage, and as for 
the two torpedo boats, as the commodore said in 
liis very modest report of the battle, "One was 
sunk, and the other, disabled by our fire, was 
beached before they were able to fire their torpedoes." 

Then the beautiful Riuia C/irisliiia. the flagsjiip 
of the Spanish admiral, fired with a desperate re- 
solve, boldly dashed out of the battle line and 
headed straiglit for the Olyinpia, to engage at short 

G 



S2 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

ranq;e and meet and overwhelm the American 
flagship "rail to rail." It was a brave challenge; 
but the commodore was prepared — as he always 
was. 

" Even before she could reach us," says Dewey's 
report, "she was received with such a galling fire 
— the entire battery of the Olympia being concen- 
trated upon her — that she was barely able to 
return to the shelter of the point." 

It was indeed a " galling fire " with which the 
Yankee flagship greeted the Spanish admiral. 
As if to support the attack of their flagship, the 
whole fire of the Spanish fleet was turned upon 
the Olympia ; but the guns of the American 
squadron followed suit on their side, and when the 
Rcina Christina attempted to stem that terrible 
fire of ''bursting steel," it swept her, crippled her, 
and drove her back. " Her sides crushed in, her 
men melted away," says one account; and, even as 
she turned to flee, the eight-inch gun of the 
Olympia s forward turret sent a shell hurtling 
toward her that raked the Spanish flagship from 
stem to stern, killing and wounding her captain 
and sixty men and sending her drifting back to 
cover, " a flaming wreck from which every man, 
able to do so, was fleeing for life." 



HOW ADM IRA I. DEWEY SPENT HIS MAV-DAV 83 

It Iiad been a gallant effort, — that clash to 
death, — for which the Spanish admiral deserves 
all praise as a brave sea-fighter, but scarcely as an 
able seaman ; no one ship, or any dozen, indeed, 
that floated the Spanish Hag could stem that ter- 
ribly destroying fire that came from the ready 
guns of the American fleet. 

Five times, as I have said, did Dewey's fleet 
pass and repass the Spanish line. And when the 
fifth run was made, every Spanish ship was 
either disabled or on fire; the shore batteries 
before Manila were silenced by the threat of the 
commodore that unless they ceased firing he 
would train his guns on the town; then, as the 
day was growing hot and the temperature in the 
magazines and the boiler-rooms was crawling up 
well toward the "sizzling point" of one hundred 
and fifty degrees, the commodore, as he reports, 
"at twentv-fivc minutes to eicfht ceased firinc: 
and withdrew the squadron for breakfast." 

That was the report that thrilled all America 
when the tidings of Dewey's great May-day fight 
reached his home-land. lUit we know now that 
while, ostensibly, the commodore drew off for 
"breakfast," he was reallv himself in a serious frame 
of mind. Unharmed and victorious, indeed, his 



84 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

ships were ; but that continual and destructive 
bombarding had drawn so deeply upon his store 
of ammunition that it was a question how much 
longer the attack could be kept up. Then, too, 
the commodore and his officers did not yet appre- 
ciate the real ruin their fire had worked upon the 
Spanish fleet. Smoke and flame they saw ; but 
the enemy still held their battle-line, and if they 
possessed the pluck and ability to hold out, what 
resource had this daring American fleet, cooped 
up in a hostile harbor within range of hostile 
batteries and a stubborn fleet ? Still the jackies 
on the warships felt certain that their victory was 
complete and even grudged the call to breakfast. 

" Let's keep at it and finish em up," they de- 
manded. The " finish " came soon, and the ammu- 
nition held out to the end. 

" About half-past eight," wrote home one of the 
assistant engineers on the Olympia, " the whole 
fleet took a rest and something to eat. At twenty 
minutes to eleven we went for them again to finish 
them up." 

This proved, after all, to be the easiest part of 
the day's work, in spite of the commodore's appre- 
hensions. It was cruel, — but when was war ever 
other than cruel 1 And it was necessary, you see, 



HOW ADMIRAL DEWEY SPENT HIS MAY-DAY 85 

because the Spaniards had nut yet cried, "llt)ld! 
enough ! " 

They did so speedily. The burning and dis- 
abled hulks had been moved, by order of the 
adnu'ral, nearer in shore, and when at twenty 
nu'iuites to one, the little c^unboat Petrel steamed 
up into the creek and shelled the fleet and the 
arsenal, the guns of the Balthnore raked the 
wrecks off Cavite and dismounted three 2:uns on 
the Spanish fort ; then the yellow flag of Spain 
came down from its staff on the arsenal ; the 
white flag of surrender fluttered in its place; the 
signal "cease firing" flew from the Olynipia, and, 
at half-past twelve, "the Spanish batteries being 
silenced and the ships sunk, burned, and deserted," 
so ran the commodore's report, " the squadron 
returned and anchored off jNIanila." Commodore 
Dewey had kept his May-day in glorious, sea- 
fighting fashion, the battle of Manila Bay was 
over, and Spain had lost her fleet in Asiatic 
waters. 

Then the squadron drew away from the shat- 
tered hulks and occupied a mooring-ground under 
the very guns of Manila, overawed into silence. 

The heavv air of the Orient ramj with the cheers 
of Yankee blue-jackets over the signal victory 



86 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

won by Yankee pluck and daring and discipline. 
The men were proud of their commodore, the 
commodore was proud of his men, and all were 
proud of their victorious ships. From the stately. 
flagship down to the little Petrel, " the baby battle- 
ship," as the jackies called her for her valiant 
work at Cavite, every one had done royal service. 

Then the McCulloch steamed swdftly to Hong 
Kong. The news of victory flashed beneath the 
wide ocean, and soon the whole world knew how 
Commodore George Dewey, U.S.N., spent his 
May-day in the year 1898. A shout of pride and 
joy went over the land from Maine to Georgia 
and from Massachusetts Bay to the Golden Gate. 
Dewey had done his duty, obeyed orders, and 
placed his name high on his country's roll of 
heroes as the victor in one of the most brilliant 
and one of the most astounding naval victories in 
all history. 

He had been ordered to find and destroy the 
Spanish fleet. This he had accomplished, as the 
advertisements say, "with neatness and despatch." 
Spain's Asiatic fleet was annihilated ; Spain's Asi- 
atic colonies were wrested from Spain. 

For oood or for evil this was the result. For, 
thoudi timid and hesitating Americans there are 



HOW ADMIRAL DEWF.Y SPENT HIS MAY-DAY 8; 

who say that when tlie commodore had performed 
his mission and wrecked tlic ships of Spain he 
should have sailed away, all men know that this he 
could not do. The boom of Dewey's resistless guns 
had t)pened a new chapter in American history, 
and j-jropounded a problem that America herself 
must solve, — the question of her rights of posses- 
sion, and the wisdom of occupation in lands far 
away from the domain of the republic. 

Spain had lost, but her men had fought val- 
iantlv. The smokino- hulks of her ruined battle- 
ships were the graves of iiiany brave and fearless 
men, — l)rave, if lacking in marksmanship, fearless, 
if wanting in discipline. "They died game," one 
American sailor declared, and this verdict was the 
verdict oi the fleet. T^rom the Admiral Montojo, 
who, when his flagship broke into flames, hauled 
down his pennant, and, like Perry on Lake P2rie, 
rowed off to raise it on another ship, down to the 
humblest seaman and stoker, the Spanish sailors 
fought a losing fight; but they battled manfully 
and died by the hundreds for the honor of Spain. 

Vouv hundred men in killed and wounded marked 
the death-record for SjDain ; that of the Americans 
was not a single life lost, not a single boat disabled, 
and but eight men wounded by Hying splinters. 



88 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

So ended the first sea-fight of the new American 
navy ; the first, too, in which American warships 
and sailors had been engaged for over a generation. 
It was a victory of disciphne over incompetency, of 
confidence over uncertainty, of preparedness over 
procrastination, of the Yankee "ready" over the 
Spanish " mananar 

It carried many poor fellows down to death, 
innocent of harm, but the instruments of an in- 
human power ; it awoke ringing applause and hero- 
worship in every American heart, but it brought 
directly to American consideration an unexpected, 
unsought, and perplexing problem. 

For this problem, however, Americans themselves 
were largely responsible; their navy was efficient in 
action, superb in drill, perfect in discipline ; it 
worked like the well-adjusted and well-oiled parts 
of a splendid machine. But the machine was not 
large enough ; the size of the navy was not equal 
to its efiiciency ; the world, because of that navy's 
numerical weakness, had never appreciated its 
inherent strength. 

The Philippine problem forced upon the Amer- 
ican people by Commodore Dewey is, as I have 
said, due, itself, largely to the American people 
themselves; or, as Captain Mahan, the ablest 



now ADMIRAL DI'AVl.V SI'I.N I' HIS MAY DAY 89 

lixinL:; stiickMit of sca-jiowcr and its R-sults, de- 
clares, had there been ample coast defences along 
oui" >hores and a navY half as larw aiiain as the 
white squadron of 1897, the world would have been 
enlightened and Spain would have chosen the 
easier part of discretion. "Our evident na\al su- 
premacy," says Caj^tain Mahan, " would have kept 
the Spanish tieet in Europe; there would have 
been no war, and, tlianks to a great and j^rosper- 
ous na\-y, there would have been no question of 
the Philippines and, possibly, none of Hawaii." 

As to that, no man can be sure; for e\ents 
move quite otherwise, sometimes, from the course 
men would give them. But as to Commodore 
Dewey's victory in Manila Ikiy in the morning 
flush of an Asiatic May-day, even with all its de- 
struction and all its terrible war-fruits, the republic 
will ever assert with Southey's old peasant of 
Blenheim ; — 

" ^Vhy, that I cannot tell," said he; 
" But 'twas a glorious victory." 



CHAPTER V 



WHY THE UNITED STATES NAVY PLAYED AT HIDE- 
AND-SEEK 




W 



HILE Dewey and 
his men were scor- 



inij the first fiohtinor success 
of the war on the distant 
Malayan coast, their coun- 
trymen at home were by 
no means idle. The land 
forces were mustering rap- 
idly. From distant posts and 
frontier forts the regular 
army, increased to full fight- 
ing strength, was moving 
toward the southern coast; in temporary state 
camps the volunteers were being drilled into shape ; 
while, one by one, their regiments, as they attained 
proficiency, were transported to the national en- 
campments, where, on the historic field of Chicka- 
mauga, amid the sands of Tampa, and at other 

90 



REAR-ADMIRAL SAMPSON. 



AT IIIDI'. AND-SEEK 9^ 

liastiK' selected sites in the south, regulars and 
volunteers awaited the command "On to Cuba!" 

Hut that command lagged in its coming — too 
much so, certain of the over-confident soldier-boys 
and tar too many thoughtless newspapers and peo- 
ple declared. For the mol)ili/ing and disciplining 
of an army of two hundred thousand volunteer 
fighters, the most of whom had never seen war 
and to very many of whom a gun and a uniform 
were as unfamiliar as a "gentleman-sportsman's 
lumting-kit." were things that called for patience, 
consideration, and much necessary delay. 

More than this, however: even where a fair ]5ro- 
portion of the army of invasion was ready to move, 
the risk of transfer could not at once be taken. 

Spain was known to have certain fleets of war- 
ships which, on paper at least, and according to all 
reports, were sufficiently formidable to be avoided. 
One shot from an eioht-inch gun in a forward 
turret or from a sneaking tt)rpedo boat could 
crush and sink the stoutest unprotected transport 
crowded with soldiers, horses, and munitions of 
war. I'or these transports, which were to convey 
the .American army across the water to Cuba, were 
steamshij^s rented to the government at so much 
a day or purchased for this especial work from the 



92 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



merchant marine — good steamers, most of them, 
but none of them prepared to meet a warship in 
fight or even to run away from one of those destroy- 
ing sea-mon- 
sters uroed on 
in pursuit by 
the extra exer- 
tion of "forced 
draught." De- 
lay in mov- 
ing troops was 
preferable to 
the possible 
loss of brave 
soldiers sunk 
by a shot from 
a warship or 
by the horrible 
missiles sent 
out from the 
torpedo tubes. 
But what about our warships ? you may ask ; 
were they not designed and manned for attack and 
defence ? were they not strong enough to convoy 
and protect our fleets of transports and prevent or 
repel the sudden onset of Spanish destroyers ? 




THE TRANSPORTS EN ROUTE TO CUBA. 



AT HIDE-AND-SEEK 93 

That certainly was one of tlie duties which de- 
volved upon our fierce fighting squadron. But 
there were other duties, too. I have told you of 
our vast un}jrotected coast-line, and of the fears of 
the inhabitants of our crowded and wealthy coast 
cities lest a sudden onset of an unknown Spanish 
fleet, swooping down upon them, should \isit upon 
them ruin, destruction, and death. The people of 
the inland cities and towns were inclined to "poke 
fun '" at the perturbed dwellers by the sea for their 
fears and fright; but, all the same, those fears and 
frights were as excusable and justifiable in 1898 as 
they had been in the trying days of 179S and 181 2, 
when the fear of foreign war terrified the Atlantic 
coast and put its people in jeopardy. 

At all events, the government was forced to 
recognize this pardonable fear; therefore, to allay it, 
they established an armed patrol of scouts and war- 
ships, which hovered about the coast or ran into 
the larger seaports, so that, from Sa\annah to IJar 
Harbor, the peo]:)le might feel that the safety of 
their li\es and property was being cared for by 
the national government. 

One other duty the navy had laid upon it. It 
must intercept, locate, bottle up, or destroy the fieet 
or fleets of Spain. 



94 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Just how many of these there were the govern- 
ment was not absokitely certain, although its spies 
and " secret service agents " were wide awake and 
vigilant. The people, less well informed, decreased 
or magnified the floating force of the enemy, accord- 
ing as security or fear controlled their statements. 

Looking back now, with the facts all known, it is 
easy to say, as it is to see, that these fears were 
needless; but what is called the ''point of view" 
depends upon circumstances, and what we know 
to-day we did not know yesterday. Even though 
elaborate statements and comparisons were made, 
giving in parallel columns the strength of the rival 
fleets of Spain and the United States, there was 
always the awful chance that those parallels might 
not be reliable, and that, all unknown to our govern- 
ment, Spain might have a strong auxiliary fleet 
or certain new, unknown, and powerful warships 
secreted to hurl at us when and where least ex- 
pected. 

So it became necessary to watch for and inter- 
cept any and all Spanish fleets that might be afloat, 
before they could cooperate with the Spanish troops 
in Cuba or work destruction upon the coasts of the 
United States. Dewey did this brilliantly and 
effectively in Manila Bay. One Spanish fleet. 



AT MIDE-AND-SEEK 



95 



wliicli tlie Pacific coast feared, was, on that glorious 
fii>t of .Ma\-, removed forever from tlie seas; it now 
remained for the warships on the Atlantic coast to 
be equally xii^il mt and ec(uali\- effective. 



■■> 



>iii .. 








41- 







THF. CITY OF CADIZ. 1\ SPAIN. 
(From tliis port sailed Cervera's fleet.) 



Spurred on by the achievement of their brothers 
on the other side f)f the world, the Atlantic fleets 
kept vigilant watch and ward, and when it was 
learned that, on the twenty-ninth of April, Ad- 



96 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

miral Cervera with a fleet of Spanish cruisers and 
torpedo boats, sailing first from the home port of 
Cadiz, had left the rendezvous at the Cape Verde 
Islands and was heading across the Atlantic, the 
navy's business of blockading Cuba, convoying 
transports, capturing merchant prizes, and head- 
ing off unlocated Spanish fleets became a most 
absorbing and sometimes a .most perplexing com- 
bination of duties. 

In fact, there began in the early days of May a 
regular grame of hide-and-seek, in which the United 
States navy was " it," and went searching about, 
from Nova Scotia to Venezuela, for the sly Spanish 
hiders, who wouldn't even cry "coop!" 

The game was started when, on the eighth of 
May, the Secretary of the Navy at Washington 
telegraphed the admiral of the fleet, off the coast 
of Hayti, " Do not risk or cripple your vessels 
ao-ainst fortifications, so as to prevent soon after- 
ward successfully fighting Spanish fleet composed 
of Pclayo, Carlos F., Oqncndo, Vizcaya, Maria 
Teresa, Cristobal Colon, and four deep-sea tor- 
pedo boats, if they should appear on this side." 

It was a wise order, for it strengthened the 
determination of Admiral Sampson to withstand, 
even as he had already withstood, the pleas of his 



Al' IIIDK-AND-SKKK 97 

officer^, for '~ ]u>[ one >1k)1,'" and to wa.^tc neither 
powder nor life nnnecessan'l)'. Since the boni- 
barchnent of tlie fortifications at Matanzas on 
April 27, and the silencing of the forts at Port 
Cabanas, two days later, the blockading fleet had 
done little more than blockade ports and cut 
ocean cables. 

This cable-cutting was an important act of war, 
for it broke the S]3anish comniunication with 
Cuba, and to effect it, the men of the fleet 
were ready to risk much. The cable connectino: 
Havana and Kev West had flrst been cut, and 
the three others, which, by different sea-routes, led 
from the island to Jamaica and Hayti, were next 
attacked. Near Cienfuegos, on the south coast of 
Cuba, on the eleventh of May, while attempting 
to sever one of these cables, the cutters in their 
row-boats and stean^i launches, although " covered " 
by a cruiser and a gunboat, were attacked by 
Spanish soldiers, a thousand strong. Under 
a witherino: fire from the shore, scarcely a hun- 
dred feet away, the men at the oars and the men 
at the cables worked 011 for two hours irrimly 
unmindful of the whistlimr shot, and at last the 
cable was cut, at an expense of two men killed 
and seven wounded. 

H 



98 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

That same day, the eleventh of Ma}^ while at- 
tempting to lure out of their hiding-place in the 
harbor of Cardenas three Spanish gunboats, the 
torpedo boat Wiiislow, never designed for such 
purpose, dashed into the harbor in company with 
the gunboat Wilmington and the revenue cutter 
Hiidson. Pushing straight for the docks around 
which the Spanish gunboats were hidden, the 
Winslozu ran into a trap of gunboats and shore 
batteries; but she pluckily held her own, the Hiidson 
supporting her, until the hot Spanish fire crippled 
her steering gear. In response to a signal the 
little revenue cutter steamed in to tow the Wins- 
lozu out; but, just as the tow-line was thrown, a 
Spanish shell fell on the gunboat's deck, killing 
four of the Winslozvs men and wounding three. 

Among the killed was young Ensign Bagley, who 
was superintending the withdrawal of the Wi?islozu 
— the first officer to be killed in the war with Spain. 
Two batteries and two of the Spanish gunboats 
had been silenced by the attack ; but the record 
of injury and death of that eleventh of May at Cien- 
fuegos and Cardenas, though comparatively small, 
was the highest total of loss in naval engagements 
through the entire war. For this, the inefficiency 
of Spanish marksmanship was to be thanked, not 



AT HIDE-AND-SEKK 99 

the cautiousness of Yankee blue-jackets; they 
courted dano-cr rather tlian avoided it, and had 
the standard of Spanish marksmanship been high, 
the American death-roll in the war with Spain 
might have been appalling. 

But tliese feats of cable-cutting and harbor-dash- 
ing were simply ej^isodes in the story of blockade 
and watchfulness. The main thing for that block- 
ading fleet to do was to locate or engage Spain's 
fighting squadron, which was somewhere out on the 
Atlantic. 

Just where that "somewhere" was proved the 
mystery that kept the navy department "guessing," 
and sent the warships dodging, now this way and 
now that, seeking the hiders and trying to catch 
them before they could " touch goal." 

It was known that, beside Cerveras fieet, there 
was another collecting under the command of 
Admiral Camara, and how soon these would be 
ready for service could not be definitely known. 
So, with one fieet ranging about the Atlantic and 
another preparing to follow, the defence of the 
Atlantic coast and the efficient blockade of Cuba 
called for all the vigilance and watchfulness that 
the department and the navy combined could give. 

A detachment of cruisers was stationed in Hamp- 



lOO OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

ton Roads, under command of Commodore Win- 
field Scott Schley. It was known as the Flying 
Squadron, and it was to be in readiness to dash out, 
north or south, upon sudden orders, and " tackle " 
the Spanish fleet wherever it should appear. It 
thus had the double duty of protecting the Atlantic 
coast or joining the blockading fleet if its help were 
needed. The monitors were stationed at Key 
West, the nearest point to Havana, in case they 
were needed there, while Admiral Sampson's fleet 
divided its time between patrolling the West Indian 
lines around Cuba and Porto Rico, or from there 
to Key West, endeavoring all the time to keep in 
direct communication with the Navy Department, 
which, in Washington, was struggling to play " I 
spy " and locate Cervera's fleet. 

These struggles kept attention racing all over the 
map of the Atlantic. The air was full of rumors 
and reports. May 6, the Spanish fleet was reported 
at Guadeloupe; the same day it was located at St. 
Thomas ; May 8, it was divided between the home 
harbor of Cadiz in Spain and Diamond Rock, off 
the island of Martinique ; May 9, an outlook on 
a mountain top had seen it steaming past Cape 
Haitien; and that same day it was reported as head- 
ino^ for the harbor of San Juan, in Porto Rico. As 



AT hii)i:-.\nl)-ski:k 



lOI 



this seemed plausible, Admiral Sampson dashed 
away with some of his big ships to San Juan, where 
he arrixed on the morning- of the twelfth of May. 







,'!' 

•!l' 






THK DIAMUNIJ ROCK, OFF MARTINIQUE. 
(As seen through the port-hole of a cruiser.) 

Meantime a valuable addition to the Atlantic 
fleet was racing around the world to be in at the 
end of the game. This was the powerful battleship 
Orcc^ou, — a veritable floating fortress with sixteen 
great guns and a speed of seventeen knots an hour. 

On March 19. this "bull-dog of the Ameri- 
can navy," as the Oregon has been called, sailed 
under " hurry orders " from her berth in San Fran- 



102 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

CISCO, where she had been brought down from 
Puget Sound, to join the squadron at Key West 
"in case she might be needed," — for on the nine- 
teenth of March, war, though not yet declared, 
seemed unavoidable. 

It was a race against time. With full coal 
bunkers and all her drafts going, she steamed 
out of the Golden Gate at eight o'clock on the 
morning of March 19, and in sixteen days ran 
into Callao to recoal and clean up the machinery. 
She had made the run of four thousand miles in 
two days less than the time made by the regular 
mail steamer. After a three days' stop the Oregon, 
fully recoaled, sailed from Callao, on Tuesday, 
April 7, with the air as thick with rumors of 
hostile Spanish warships as it was of fog, and in 
nine days more she ran into the Straits of Ma- 
gellan; the next night she dropped anchor at the 
Chilian coaling-station of Sandy Point. Here she 
again recoaled and had her machinery inspected, 
and at sunrise on Tuesday, April 21, steamed out 
of the strait, keeping a sharp lookout for a Spanish 
torpedo boat which, it was rumored, was lying in 
wait for the big warship in the narrow strait. But 
the dreaded torpedo boat did not put in an appear- 
ance, and swinging out into the Atlantic, the Oregon 



AT HIDE-AND-SEEK 103 

turned Iilm" great prow northward to join the fight- 
ing; fleet. 

Whether there was to l^e any figliting for tliat 
tleet or for her own five hundred men, tlie Orco^on 
did not know as slie ploughed the Atlantic billows; 
but when, on the thirteenth of April, the Oreo^on 
steamed into the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, her 
men heard that war had been declared ; and on 
the fourth of May, when, with refilled coal bunkers 
and with her machinery in good trim, she sailed 
out of Rio harbor, her men had heard of Dewey's 
great work at Manila, and burned to find equal 
opportunity for action in Cuban waters. In token 
of which every blue-jacket bought at Rio a red 
ribbon stamped " Remember the Mainc^,' and wore 
it on the funnv round cap which is the incompre- 
hensible top-piece of a sailors toggery. And not 
to be behindhand in open faith in Ifis big warship, 
Captain Clark of the Oregon telegraphed, so it is 
said, this plea to the Navy Department: "Please 
don't tangle me u]) with instructions. I am not 
afraid of the whole Spanish fieet." 

She was, apparently, to encounter nothing but 
S]3anish rumors, but these were plentiful enough. 
Oil Mav 8, the Oregon was at Bahia ; there she put 
on her lead-colored war-paint and steamed away 



I04 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

next day for Barbadoes, where, after sixteen hours 
of coaling, she headed for the Florida coast, and on 
the twenty-fourth of May, after signalling her 
arrival off Jupiter Light, awaited orders from 
Washington. 

Those orders sent her to Key West to await 
instructions. Thither she steamed, and on Thurs- 
day, the twenty-sixth of May, she dropped anchor 
off Sandy Key Light — victor in a race against 
time, fifteen thousand miles in two months and 
one week, the longest and swiftest voyage ever 
made by a ponderous battleship. 

That she was a victor was due to her superb 
construction, the masterly way in which she was 
handled at sea, and the devotion and spirit of her 
men. From captain to apprentice-boy every man 
and boy of the five hundred was bound to make 
a record. And they did. Nights of sleepless vigil, 
days of double duty, deeds of daring (like that of 
the boiler-maker who crawled over the banked 
coal of the furnace to repair a leak around a 
socket bolt), terrific heat below deck, restless watch- 
fulness above, and then, after fifty-nine days at sea 
— "through two oceans and three zones," vigilant 
against a hidden enemy no less than a treach- 
erous sea, to swing into port without a delay or a 



AT HIDE-AND-SEEK 



105 




Tlir-: HARBOR OF SAN Jl'AN IN I'ORTO RICO. 
(Where Admiral Sampson hoped to find Cervera.) 

niisliap — " All in good health ; everything ship- 
shape ; no accidents ; not even a hot journal " 
came the report from Key West — tin's was a 
triumph of American shipbuilders, .American sea- 
men. American engineers, and American pluck, of 
which all America might well be proud — as it 



was 



On the verv dav on which the Oirgoii was forg- 
ing- ahead between Bahia and Barbadoes, Admiral 



io6 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Sampson with his nine warships appeared off the 
port of San Juan on the north coast of Porto Rico, 
wdiere he hoped to find those artful dodgers — the 
Spanish fleet. 

They were not there ; but the Spanish batteries 
were. So, after an artillery duel of nearly three 
hours, in which two warships w^ere struck, two men 
killed, and the Spanish batteries severely "pun- 
ished," — damaged, but not destroyed, — the admiral 
concluded that the Spanish needle was not to be 
found in the San Juan haystack, and steamed 
back to Havana. 

With the army not ready to move, and the navy 
so divided in the search for the Spanish fleet that 
ships and men could not be spared to hold San 
Juan even if it were captured, the admiral's decision 
was wise. San Juan was simply "punished," and 
the hunt for Cervera went back again to Cuba. 

But on his way back to Havana, Admiral Samp- 
son was boarded by a press-boat from St. Thomas 
reporting that the Spanish fleet had gone back to 
Spain. At once he telegraphed the Navy Depart- 
ment for the truth, and also asked that a collier be 
sent to San Juan; for, if Cervera had turned back 
for Cadiz, then he, Sampson, would himself turn 
back and reduce San Juan. 



AT TTTDF Wn SEFK 



107 



\k\[ the (Icsjiatth boat sent to Cape Ilaiticn witli 
the admiral".^ tclc'raiiis returned witli the infurnia- 
tion that se\en Spanisli warships were coalini;', or 
waitinLT to coal, at 
Curacoa ; tlien came 
other despatches say- 
ing thev were bound 
eitlier for X'enezuela 
or Martinique. 

At once Admiral 
Sampson made up his 
mind. If the Span- 
ish tieet were really 
at Cura9oa, its des- 
tination, he believed, 
was not Havana, but 
some nearer port, 
probably on the south 
side of Cuba ; for 
Cura9oa, you know, is south of Cuba, oH the 
mouth of the Orinoco. So the admiral set his 
scouts and auxiliary cruisers scourins: the West 
Indian waters; and to one of his captains, on the 
fifteenth of May, he cabled, " Destination of Spanish 
fleet now at Cura9oa probably Santiago de Cuba 
or San Juan, Porto Rico." And Santiago, as you 




THI-: NEW YORK. 

(Flagship of Admiral Sampson of the 

blockading fleet.) 



io8 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

now know, is the chief city on the south side of 
Cuba. The game of hide-and-seek was rapidly 
nearing the end. 

But though Admiral Sampson felt confident that 
he was on the right track, the Navy Department 
was not so sure. Monitors, despatch boats, and 
scouts were sent speeding this way and that; the 
Flying Squadron, under command of Commodore 
Schley, was ordered to Cienfuegos, and one of the 
scouting cruisers was hurried off to Venezuela 
Gulf, where it was thought the Spanish fleet was 
bound. The admiral himself was ordered to 
Key West, from which port, after coaling, he was 
sent with a formidable fleet back to the Havana 
blockade. 

And behold ! on the very morning that Schley 
and his Flying Squadron sailed away from Key 
West for Cienfuegos, while telegrams were speed- 
ino; to Washinoton from consuls and ministers 
along the Caribbean that "Spanish men-of-war" 
were here, there, and everywhere, just after one of 
the scoutinor cruisers had cut some cables and left 
Santiago harbor, and Sampson with his peripatetic 
fleet was coaling at Key West, the Spanish admiral, 
Cervera, calmly led his fleet into the narrow harbor 
of Santiago and anchored it in front of the city, still 



AT Hii)K-.\Nn-si:i:K 109 

liiddcn from tlic seeking sciuadron of the American 
navy. So far llie Spaniards had IkuI the Ijest of 
the cjame. 

Hut Sampson, thouo'h willini;- to try Cienfuegos, 
was certain tliat Santiago was the Spanish hicHng- 
place. So. wliile keeping a strict blockade of Cien- 
fuegos by Commodore Schley, he sent a scout to 
Santiago, and next day directed Schley himself to 
"proceed witli all despatch, but cautiously, to San- 
tiaiio de Cuba, and if the enemy i.^ there, blockade 
him in port." 

Hut Commodore Schley had ideas of his own. 
He liad seen so much sn.ioke in the harbor of 
Cienfuegos that he felt certain the Spanish fleet was 
hiding there, and not at Santiago. The lights of a 
fleet had been seen at night far to the south of 
Santiago, and, as the commodore himself had heard 
guns firing as he approached Cienfuegos, he was 
certain he had run the game to cover. " I think I 
ha\e them here a]nio>t to a certainty," he urole the 
admiral from his station at Cienfuegos. 

Admiral Sampson, however, was firm in his 
opinion, — >o firm, in fact, that he repeated his 
order for Schlev to "o to Santiaijo. So to Santiago 
the commodore sailed, and at seven in the exening 
on the twenty-ninth of May he was able to hurry 



no OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

off this despatch to the admiral: " Enemy in port. 
Recognized Cristobal Colon and Infanta Maria 
Teresa and two torpedo boats moored inside Morro, 
behind point. Doubtless others are here. We are 
short of coal." 

So the game was over, and the hider was " spied." 
Six American warships blockaded the port of San- 
tiago within whose tortuous harbor the Spaniards 
swung at bay, and the wise judgment of the com- 
manding admiral was fully established. It only 
remained for him now to catch the expert dodgers 
who had sfiven four thousand miles of seacoast a 
terrible fright and kept the Yankee warships racing 
all over the West Indian waters on a mighty game 
of hide-and-seek. 



CHAPTER VI 

HOW THEY BOTTLED UP THE SPANISH FLEET AT 

SANTIAGO 




C 



OMMODORE SCHLEY 

was a well -satisfied 
man, even if things had 
turned out otherwise tlian 
he anticipated. He liad 
"located" the Spanish Heet, 
and as, with the Brooklyn 
leading, his Flying Squad- 
ron ran close in to the harbor 
at Santiago, and then swept 
across it so that every man 
on the lookout could actu- 
alh- see the cornered ships of Spain, the commodore, 
on the bridge of the Brooklyn, nodded approvingly 
and said, " There they are, sure enough. Well, 
thev'll be a long time getting home." 

Ill-fated ships of Spain! Their home, to-day, is 
beneath the surf and sand of the fatal coast of 
Cuba or beside the grinding coral reefs of historic 



l.liaiENANT llUli:50N. 



Ill 



112 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Giianahani. For them, came never again the pride 
and pomp of a gallant entrance into Cadiz harJDor, 
with Spain's golden standard floating from mast- 
head and gaff. Their doom was sealed when they 
slipped stealthily in through the narrow neck of 
the Santiago bottle, which now only needed cork- 
ing up to hold it sealed securely. 

As Schley's squadron sailed across the en- 
trance to the harbor, like so many detectives at 
police headquarters, "identifying" the entrapped 
Spaniards, all doubt was removed. " Right across 
the entrance, but inside the Morro batteries," 
says one report, 'May the Colon, her white awnings 
glistening in contrast with her black hull, easily 
distinguishable by her peculiar rig of military 
mast between smokestacks ; a little farther in 
lay another cruiser, one of the Vizcaya class." The 
other boats of the Spanish squadron swung at 
their moorings, stretching up the bay ; but neither 
from ship nor shore came the bombarding protest 
against the American intrusion, and, having thus 
satisfied himself, the commodore steamed out to 
sea ao-ain, and strun^ his blockaders about the 
entrance to the harbor ; there the fleet, increased 
soon after by the arrival of the admiral and his 
ships, held on relentlessly until the final tragedy. 



BO'lTLINc; IP I Hi'. FLEET AT SAN'riAf.O 113 



Admiral Sampson, who, from tlic first, liad 
bclic-\cd Santiago to be the liichng-place of Cer- 
vera's fleet, knew the shore hne of tliat harbor 
well, and believed that it was possible so to block 
u]) the narrow entrance as to render escape impos- 




IN THE HAKliOK OF SANTIAGO. 
(Where Cervera's fleet ran in to hide.) 

sible, and thus relieve the blockading squadron of 
a eoodlv share of its burdensome duties. 

He determined to attempt this by placing a 
condemned or unsatisfactory warship directly 
across the narrow ship-channel in the entrance 
to Santiao-o harbor; there he would deliberatelv 
scuttle her, so that she would sink quickly and 
thus effectually close the harbor to the entrance 



114 OUR WAR AVITH SPAIN 

or exit of warships. The idea was neither new 
nor novel, but it was highly practical, and, for 
the task, could it be attempted, the admiral 
selected the collier Merrimac. 

In pursuance of this plan, on the twenty-seventh 
of May, he wrote to Commodore Schley, who was 
just then preparing to go to Santiago, to remain 
there on the blockade " at all hazards " and to use 
the collier Merrimac to "obstruct the channel at 
its narrowest part leading into the harbor. . . . 
I believe that it would be perfectly practicable," 
said the admiral, " to steam the vessel into posi- 
tion and drop all her anchors, allow her to swing 
across the channel, then sink her, either by open- 
ing the valves or whatever means may seem 
best." 

Just what were the best means the admiral, at 
that moment, could not say; but there was, just 
then, on the admiral's flagship Nczv York, as she 
lay coaling at Key West, a young ofificer named 
Richmond Pearson Hobson. He was what is 
called an assistant naval constructor — that is, one 
schooled in the construction, strength, and work- 
ing qualities of vessels and who knew just how a 
warship was built from keel to fighting top, just 
where lay its greatest weakness and just where its 



r.oTn.ixc. vv riii' n i:r r .vr s.\\Ti\f,o 115 

chief strcni-tli. In fad, it was to study the streii<'th 
and weakness of tlie vessels in tlie admiral's fleet 
that Mr. I lobson had been detailed for inspection 
duty on the squadron — especiall)- with a view to 
deciding which ships could best bear their part 
on the firin<'- line and which were least able to 
face attack by torpedo boat or sunken mine. 

Assistant Naval Constructor Hobson had been 
with Sampson during the San Juan bombardment, 
when he had begged the privilege of running 
into the harbor at midnight on a steam launch 
to sweep away mines, locate sunken vessels, and 
prepare the way for the cruisers to go safely in ; 
but the admiral, as you know, had but one object 
in view then, — to locate the wandering Spanish 
fleet, — and he could not afford to risk a sinHe 
vessel or a single man in such an attempt. 

Then Hobson devised a plan for forcing the 
harbor of Havana with unsinkable and indestruc- 
tible boats of a peculiar pattern ; but when he 
proposed the plan to Sampson, the admiral said 
it was not so much unsinkable as sinkable vessels 
that bothered him, and he asked Mr. Hobson if 
he saw any way to safely scuttle and sink a col- 
lier across the channel in Santiairo harbor and 
thus securely " bottle up " Cervera. 



Il6 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

" Confidentially, Mr. Hobson," said the admiral, 
" I may say to you that we start for Santiago at 
once, and that I have suggested to Commodore 
Schley that he scuttle and sink the collier Merri- 
mac in the mouth of Santiago harbor. I want to 
hurry down there to see that it is done ; but how 
to do it swiftly and surely, is a problem. Have 
you anything to suggest ? " 

Hobson brought all his intelligence and experi- 
ence to bear upon the problem, and after think- 
ine it over for some time, he declared that it could 
be done either by driving off the iron bottom 
plates from the inside of the ship, or by blowing 
them up from the outside by well-placed torpedoes. 

" I believe it could be done, sir," said the assist- 
ant naval constructor, as he and the admiral to- 
gether studied the chart of Santiago harbor ; " and 
with your permission," he added, " I should like 
to undertake the work. I am certain I could sink 
the Merrimac at just the right point." 

"We'll think it over, Mr. Hobson," replied the 
admiral, pleased with the young man's enthusiasm. 
"Take time for the problem ; study the question 
in detail, and report to me. We get under way 
to-night." 

Next day the New York and the Oregon were 



BOTFLING UP 'VWV. FI.l'.lT W SAXI'IACf) ii; 

rarini;- alonu; toward Santiago, and the assi^tant 
iia\al constructor was la\inL;- l)cfore the admiral 
his wcll-concei\cd i)lan for sinking tlie Mcrriniac. 
The admiral grew more and more interested and 
was soon stucKing, with Hobson. the best jilan for 
running the big collier past the shore batteries 
and oettino- her to the desired spot unharmed. 

It sounds very simple. All that was required 
was to sail the condemned collier into the har- 
bor, lay her across the channel, blow a hole in 
her, and let her siid< right acro.ss the channel where 
she had been laid. Hut who was to do all this.^ 
How could she run the Spanish batteries.^ What 
would become of the brave men who took her in .^ 

" Few^ realize," savs Captain Mahan. '• the doubts, 
uncertainties, and difficulties of the sustained watch- 
fulness which attends such o]:)crations as the bot- 
tling of the Spanish fleet by Admiral Sampson; 
for bottlino- a hostile fleet does not resemble the 
chance and careless sho\ing of a cork into a half- 
used bottle. It is rather like the wiring down of 
champagne bv bonds that cannot be broken, and 
throuuh which nothing can ooze." Hobson was 
planning to put in the cork; .Adn.iiral SamjDson 
with his blockading fleet must see to the "wiring 
down." 



ii8 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 







AbM^iiJ HAv^rxi: ST^tTr^ 



CABANAS. 
(A fortified suburb of Havana.) 



The admiral, while approving the young naval 
constructor's plan, was not altogether confident that 
the cork would " stay put." If the Spanish admiral 
determined to escape or to sally out and engage 
the American fleet, Sampson believed that the way 
for exit could be made by blowing the wreck to 
pieces and clearing a path. But if the sinking of 
the Mernmac would only delay things long enough 
for the American troops to land from the transports 
without attack, he felt that his purpose would be 
served. Once get Cervera and his ships even tem- 
porarily " bottled up," and the army that was wait- 
ing at Tampa could be ferried across with safety 
and despatch. 



Born.iNc. vv inK flfht at s.\Nri.\(io 119 

Bv tlic time Santiat;-() was readied, Mr. 1 l()l)snn 
had arranged all the (letail> in hi> niind, and as the 
Hagsliip steamed past the Mcrriiiiac, when coaling 
one of the warships, lie looked closely at what 
miuhl be his llIoiv or his <>ra\'e. .And when a shot 
at 1on<>" ran<'"e, fired from the Jlzcaya, fell short of 
the Xi7<.' ]'ork and sent the water spurting high, 
the vounir naval constructor was brought vividlv face 
to face with the risk of his endeavor, as he sailed 
thus between cause and effect. 

Hut he had the enterprise close at heart. The 
admiral had ]:)romised him the leadership, and, 
when once the ground (or rather the water) had 
been inspected and the course decided upon, two 
hundred men were set to work stripping the Mcrri- 
niac of everything except the coal and the bulky 
chains and anchors that would help to sink her 
when once she was exploded. 

No one was to be ordered on this mission, and 
Mr. ilobson had decided that with six men as 
assistants he could carry out his j^lan. Six \olun- 
teers were called for; five hundred at once re- 
sjionded. From everv ship in the squadron came 
requests, appeals, and demands to be allowed to 
go. From captains to coal passers, from middies 
to marines, came the response: " Fm ready;" until, 



120 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

as Mr. Hobson declares, " It may be said broadly 
that the bulk of the fleet was anxious to go.'' 

But only six could go — young, athletic, vigorous 
fellows, used to exposure, cool-headed, and under 
absolute discipline. These at last were selected 
from the rush of applicants, and very soon every- 
thing was ready for the enterprise. The Mcrrimac 
was stripped, the coal shifted, the great anchors at 
bow and stern slung and lashed, the double bottom 
weighted with seven hundred tons of water, the 
sea-connections prepared for instant opening, the 
seven torpedoes attached and connected by electric 
wires to the button on the bridge, the men all 
instructed as to their respective duties. Then, 
after one false start had been made and recalled, 
at last, at three o'clock on the morning of June 3, 
the good-bys were said and the great collier, 
doomed to destruction, steamed away from the 
fleet. Straight on she sailed, and in the track of 
the moonlight crept into the long and narrow 
entrance of Santiago harbor, bound on her enter- 
prise of daring and of possible death. 

The volunteer crew, increased at the last moment 
to seven, all understood their duties. Daniel Mon- 
tague, chief master-at-arms on the Nciv York, was 
to cut the lashing and let go the stern anchor; 



i]oi-ii.iN(^. i-i' 'iiii: ii,i:kt at s.wrr. \r-,n 121 

J. \i. Murphw ( (i.\.s\v;iiii ol llie /oTLur, was to cut 
tlic lathing and let l;() the l)()\v anchor, and thc'n, 
passing over to the port side, connect Torpedo 
No. 1 to fire; George Charette, gunner's mate on 
the AV71' i '(>r/i\ was to attend to Torpedoes 2 and 
3; Oscar Deignan, coxswain of the Merri))iac\ was 
to attend to Torpedo 4; John P. Phillips, machinist 
on the Mcrrimac. Torpedo 6; P^rancis Kelly, water- 
tender on the Mcrriinac, Torpedo 7; and Rudolph 
Clausen, coxswain on the New York, the seventh 
man of the crew, selected on the spur of the mo- 
ment by Mr. Hobson. was to be steersman until 
relieved at the wheel by vounq; Deio^nan, when he 
was to rush over and connect Torpedo 5. Before 
attending to their torpedoes Phillips and Kelly, 
who were in the engine-room, were to stop the 
engine, open the sea-connections so as to fill the 
hull with water, and then stand by to fire their 
torpedoes. If the torpedoes were fired as arranged, 
the Mcrriiuac would 2:0 down, bow on, and the 
wreck would be complete. Uniforms were stripj^ed 
off. revolver-belts and life-preservers strapped on, 
and with the frallant I lobson on the brido-e, direct- 
inij ever\thin''', the Mcrrimac stole into the >hado\v 
of the rugged height crowned by the formidable 
fortifications of Morro. 



122 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Nearer and nearer they crept ; the channel was 
not fifteen hundred feet away; once in that the 
headway and flood-tide would carry them to the 
selected spot, in spite of fort and battery. 

They were just wondering why they were so long- 
unmolested, when out from the water came a flash 
of fire. A picket boat had opened on the great 
black intruder ; another and another shot rang out, 
then with a crash the western battery began to play 
upon them. But Morro Point, where the deep-water 
channel ran, was but two ship-lengths off. Then 
Hobson gave the signal to the men below; the 
engines were stopped ; the water connections were 
thrown open ; the Merrimac began to fill and 
settle. 

" Down to your torpedoes! " ordered Hobson ; the 
Merrimac entered the channel, while from every 
battery flashed the flame and shot. Morro rock 
was only thirty feet away, but the big collier still 
minded her helm, and with a sheer to starboard 
Morro rock was passed and the point aimed at was 
but half a ship-length off. 

Then came the order " hard aport ! " but alas, the 
ship did not answer to young Deignan's touch, 
though he brought the helm hard aport and lashed 
it fast. Then, just at the edge of success, came 



BOTTLING UP TIIK FLEET AT SAXTLAC.O 123 

defeat. A shot liad carried away tlie steering-gear, 
and they had missed their position. 

Seven thousand tons of unmanageable wood and 
iron were adrift, with but two anchors to hold them 
in place! A signal from the bridge, and Murphy 
let fall the bow anchor; another instant, and with a 
smothered roar his torpedo was exploded and a 
great rent torn in the forward part. 

With that, from every Spanish battery on shore 
and height came the storm of shot and shell. They 
thought a Yankee cruiser, crowded with men and 
bristling with guns, was forcing the harbor. in 
the midst of all the roar and fire Hobson stood on 
the bridge with his hands megaphoned about his 
mouth, shoutinq- again and again the order: — 

" Fire all torpedoes! " 

There was no response ; his signal cord was 
useless; Torpedoes 2 and 3 did not follow suit. 
Then up rushed Charette. "They won't fire, sir; 
the cells are shattered." 

Two then were useless; but No. 5 was all right. 
and Clausen ran<T^ it out with orood effect. Of 
the others, the connection had been shot awav and 
the cells shattered. Only two torpedoes had done 
their duty. 

Just then the settling collier drifted off Estrella 



124 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Point, the spot where the channel is narrowest and 
which Hobson and the admiral had selected as the 
sinking-place. Instead of shattering and sinking 
the collier at once, the two torpedoes had only 
partially accomplished the destruction that should 
have been swift to be effective. 

"Let oo the stern anchor!" That was to be 
Montague's work ; but the lashings of the stern 
anchor had been shot away, and only the bow 
anchor was down ; alas ! that dragged, and the tide 
slowly drifted the Merrimac off Estrella Point. 

Crash ! boom ! bang ! Every battery joined in the 
chorus of destruction as machine and rapid-fire guns 
and all the furies of modern artillery broke upon 
the doomed collier. Spanish regiments lined the 
eastern and western shores, to repel the intruder, 
their repeating rifles cracking incessantly. Then 
came a shock from below. A Spanish mine had 
exploded and had done the work of the ruined 
and useless Yankee torpedoes, while, hidden in the 
shadows, protected by the bulwarks, those eight 
brave Americans floated throuoh that shatterini^ 
fire and calmly arranged just how they should 
drop from the wreck at just the right moment. 

" Not a man moved," says Mr. Hobson, " not 
even when a projectile plunged into the boiler, 




HOBSOX ()\ THE BKID(;K ok the MERRIMAC. 

(With his hands megaphoned about his mouth, he shouted, again and again, 

"Fire all torpedoes!") 



r.OTTT,IXG VV TTIK FT,EET AT SANTIAGO 127 

and a rush of stcani came u[) tlie deck not far 
from wlicrc wc lav." Tliat is tlic effect of the 
superb discipline of the /Ymcrican navy ! 

Sinkinir slowlv, the Mcrriuiac drifted froni tlie 
desired "corking spot" off Estrella Point, out 
into the widening channel, on between two Span- 
isli t(M-pedo boats coming at her from either side. 
Then, with a terrible lurch to port, head on, the 
big collier plunged to its death; the stern rose, 
keeled, shivered, and sank, and as the water came 
pouring over the deck, the eight heroes were 
swept over by the sea, and the next instant were 
climbinc: to the floatinir catamaran or life-raft — 
for the life-boat had been shot away. Thus they 
floated out of the whirlpool about the sinking 
Mcrvimac, unharmed, save for slight bruises from 
driftinii- wreckao-e — a miraculous instance of pluck 
combined with good fortune. 

Clinirine to the catamaran, with onlv their heads 
above water, they floated about until daylight, singu- 
larly unobserved In- the Spanish soldiers on shore, 
or the searchers in the boats that pulled about the 
wreck. Then, as broad daylight burst above the 
heiLihts of Santiai^o, a steam launch bore down 
upon them, her forecastle crowded with Spanish 
riflemen. 



128 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

" Load ! ready ! aim ! " the command sounded 
clear in the mornins: air. But the command to 
fire did not follow. For Hobson called out : — 

" Is there an officer in that launch ? An Amer- 
ican officer wishes to surrender himself and his 
seamen as prisoners of war." 

The curtains parted ; a gray-haired officer looked 
out; the rifles were ordered down, and Admiral 
Cervera, commander of the Spanish squadron, 
leaning far out, helped into the launch the bold 
young naval constructor who had attempted, by 
sinking the Alerrimac, to " wire down " the cork 
in Admiral Sampson's bottle. 

One by one the other seamen were drawn aboard. 

" You are brave fellows," exclaimed the Spanish 
admiral, with genuine appreciation of a glorious 
endeavor, while the launch, steaming back to the 
Spanish fleet, set Hobson on board the Reina Mer- 
cedes and delivered over the eight heroes of the 
Merrimac as prisoners of w^ar. 

This valiant act of Hobson and his comrades, 
as President McKinley truthfully asserted, "thrilled 
not alone the hearts of our countrymen, but the 
world, by its exceptional heroism." And just as 
truthfully did the President say, " It is a most grati- 
fying incident of the war that the bravery of this 



r.uiiLiNc IP nil: ii.i:i:r at s.\NriA(;o 



129 



liltic hand of heroes was cordialK- appreciated hy 
the Spaiiisli achniral. who sent a llag of truce to 
notify Achiiital Sampson of tlieir safety and to com- 
phnient them on their daring act." 




WHEKK Till-: MKKR I.MAC LIES. 

(Just beyond Esirella Point in Santiago harbor. The smokestack of the 
sunken collier just shows above the water.) 

l)Ut the hUj- colHer. broken and destroyed in the 
interests of nayal necessity, rested, a sunken wreck, 
upon the yeUow sands of Santiago harbor. She 
had not gone down in tlie precise spot desired, but 
the endeayor liad been alike braye and skilful, and 
showed the Spaniards that, haying once bottled 
them u]^ in .Santiago harbor, the .American block- 
aders intended to keep them there, even at the sacri- 
fice of costly iron ships and brave Yankee seamen. 

K 



CHAPTER VII 

HOW THE MARINES HELD THE BEACH AT GUANTA- 

NAMO 

WHEN Cadet Powell, of the Neiu York, who, 
with a pluck and courage fully the equal of 
that of Hobson and his men, had crept along in the 
wake of the Merrimac and waited, in the face of 
the Spanish fire, to rescue Hobson s crew after the 
explosion, came on board the flagship, he reported 
to the anxious admiral that the Merrimac had 
sunk beyond Estrella Point. 

" But not a man came back, sir," he said sorrow- 
fully. " I waited until daylight, hoping to pick 
up one of them swimming our way ; but not one 
showed up, and we had to come out without them, 
under fire of the batteries." 

It was a brave and generous, as it was a hazard- 
ous, deed for the young ensign and his volunteer 
crew. But the admiral had not believed that in 
the attempt to sink the Merrimac the risk of death 
was so great as others held it to be. 

130 



THE MAKlNi:S AT crANTANAMO ijl 

"It is a danuLTous lliinij to do," he said, "and a 
brave thiiiu;. Hut I tliink they have a good chance. 
It isn't so easy to shoot eight men on a l)ig ship 
on a dark niglit ; and you know," he added, "the 
Spaniards are very poor shots." 

But when Ensign Powell reported that no one 
came back, the admiral was deeply exercised over 
the fate of his eiirht bra\e volunteers, — some of 
whom had actually thanked him for the i)rivilege 
of thus iioinor into terrible danger. So, when that 
same afternoon Admiral Cervera's chief of staff 
came to the AWt' For/:, under a flag of truce, with 
a letter from the Spanish admiral to the American 
admiral reporting that the "brave young Ameri- 
cans " were all safe and would be treated as prison- 
ers of war. Admiral Sampson was greatly relieved, 
and said in liis report to tlie Navy Department: 
" I cannot myself too earnestly express my appre- 
ciation of the conduct of Mr. Hobson and his 
crallant crew. I venture to sav that a more brave 
and daring deed has not been done since Gushing 
blew up the Alhcmarkr 

But the cork in the bottle, though bravely 
jammed in by Hobson and his men, had not, as 
Captain IMahan puts it, been securely " wired 
down." It was necessary, therefore, to blockade 



132 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



the entrance to Santiago harbor effectually and 
also to cripple or silence the Spanish batteries 
that guarded the approach to the harbor. 





i 



"^uiiBm 



hobson's interpreter. 

(One of the "boys" at the front " interviewhig " the man who acted as 
Hobson's interpreter in prison.) 

From the sea-battery above the cave under 
Morro to the Gorda battery, within range of 
whose guns the Merrimac finally sank, there were 
ten forts, batteries, and mine stations protectin 






THE MARINES AT CUANTANAMO 133 

the entrance to Santiago. These tlie admiral 
determined to silence, or, at least, so to injure 
them as to make it safe for a battleshij) to lie 
close inshore. hOr Admiral Sampson, like Com- 
modore Dewey, had been one of " F'arragut's 
boys," and, under the tuition of that great admiral, 
he had learned the wisdom of l\irragut"s highly 
practical, if warlike, assertion that " the best pro- 
tection against an enemy's fire is a well-directed 
fire from our own guns." 

This aggressive protection Admiral Sampson 
was vigilant to secure alike against enemies on 
sea and enemies on shore. vSo, while mindful of 
the Navy Department's warning not to risk shi])s 
against fortifications, the admiral, who had alreadv 
tried the temper and tested the marksmanship of 
the Spanish gunners, proceeded to enforce pro- 
tection by Farragut's method. 

On the morning of the sixth of June, in the 
midst of drifting and curtain-like rain-squalls, the 
fleet, dividiuLi into two sections, one under com- 
mand of Admiral Sampson, the other led by Com- 
modore Schley, headed inshore and attacked, 
with a relentless fire, the eastern and western 
sides of the harbor respectively. 

They steamed to within less than a mile from 



134 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

shore ; they raked the forts and batteries on 
either side, while shells from the flagship were 
even dropped upon the Gorda battery at the 
head of the channel and swept the Spanish tor- 
pedo boat, the Rcina Mercedes, with a rain of 
death. The driftinor niist and the dense cannon 

o 

smoke mingled in an almost impenetrable cloud, 
but for nearly three hours the terrible bombard- 
ment continued until at last the forts were 
silenced, and the fleet, having secured what might 
be termed " Farragut protection " by Farragut 
rules, obeyed the signal " cease firing " and 
dropped back to its station on blockade. 

How effectual was the " protection " thus se- 
cured may be seen from the assertion of Captain 
Chadwick of the Neiu York that during the month 
of blockade not a shot was fired by the enemy at 
any one of the blockading fleet. 

That this bombardment of the Santiago batter- 
ies should have been accomplished without injury 
to the American squadron is almost marvellous, 
especially if we accept the sea-statement that one 
o;un mounted on shore is worth several on board 
ship. For, as you know, Sampson's attacking 
fleet came within less than a mile of shore, and, 
upon one of the principal batteries — known as 



'llli: MAKINKS AT CUANTANAMO 135 

tlic Socapa battery — Ilobsou himself counted 
" emplacements " for eleven mortars, rapid-fire, and 
revolving cannon, up-to-date in construction and 
powerful in their capacity for destruction. And 
yet, in that bombardment, not one of our ships 
was hurl. It was the difference between training 
and inefficiency in the men behind the guns on 
tieet and shore. 

llaxing by this energetic method secured that 
freedom from molestation while on blockade, 
Admiral Sampson next proceeded to get posses- 
sion of a desirable harbor on shore, where he 
could establish a base of sup]olies for his fleet, 
and also maintain a coaling-station, which would 
render it unnecessary to make the long voyage to 
Key West whenever it was necessary to "coal up" 
his warships. 

Such a safe and desirable harbor he had dis- 
covered at Guantanamo Bay, — an island-protected 
harbor, thirty-eight miles to the east of Santiago, 
with good and safe anchorage well inshore, a 
shelter from hurricane, storm, and attack, and just 
the place for a supply, repair, and coaling station. 

There were in tliis bay an inner and an outer 
harbor. The admiral first despatched two well- 
tried commanders — McCalla in the cruiser Mar- 



136 OUR WAR UriH SPAIN 

blehead and Brownson in the auxiliary cruiser 
Yankee — to force and occupy the outer bay at 
Guantanamo. This they proceeded to do with 
their customary thoroughness, raking the Spanish 
battery planted at the entrance, driving the support- 
inor CTunboat scuddino- to cover, and scattering- the 
artillerists and soldiers along shore. 

\\ hile this was on foot, there were on the way 
from Key West six hundred United States marines, 
— those "horse-sailors" of the navy, of whom little 
is ever said, but upon whom depends much of the 
guardianship, discipline, and efficiency of the navy, 
in times of peace as well as in days of war. 

It was at noondav of the tenth of June that 
Colonel Huntino;ton and his six hundred marines 
(including one artillery company) sailed into Guan- 
tanamo Bay upon the transport Panther, to make 
the first armed landing and establish the first real 
American camp on Cuban soil. To support their 
attempt the Oregon and the Yankee, the Yoseniite 
and the Scorpion, warships large and small, escorted 
the Panther, as also the despatch boat Dolphin and 
the store-ship Supply. 

Thanks to the visit of the Marhleliead, no re- 
sistance was offered to the landino; of the marines 
as they pulled ashore in small boats and landed on 



Tnr: m.\kini:s at crwiAXAMo 137 

the Ix'ach jii^l iii>i(U' the ca.slL'i-ii point of the 
harbor. 'I'he\- landed with elieers and nuisic, and 
Serireant SiKer of Conipanv C, first battahon of 
Marines, forthwith raced up the liill that rose from 
the beacli and o\er tlie ruins of a battered Spanish 
blockhouse ran up the stars and stripes, — the first 
raisinir of tlie starry banner by an armed force on 
the debatable ground of Cuba. On this hill the 
marines at once proceeded to establisli their camp, 
\yhich, in honor of the bold captain of the Marblc- 
hcad who had prepared the way, they christened 
Camp McCalla. 

But the Spaniards had JDcen gathering in force 
in the brush beyond the hill, determined to resist 
this forcible occupation by " Yankee pigs." With 
customary Spanish procrastination, however, they 
delayed the attack until the marines \vere comfort- 
ably settled and quite "at home" in Camp McCalla. 
They might haye annoyed and retarded the landing 
of men and supplies, but they did not — iK'rhaps 
from a pardonable fear of the guns of the Yankee 
warshii)s which floated just in range of the camp. 

At half-past fiye, however, on the afternoon of 
June I 1, while some of the marines were ha\ing a 
swim, and the rest were taking things easy in camp, 
two thousand and more of tlie soldiers of Spain, 



138 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

screened by the tliick brush beyond the camp, 
began a fierce "gunning" of the marines. Up the 
hill dashed the bathers, scarcely waiting to get into 
their clothes, and in an instant the well-drilled 
marines were " peppering " their hidden foe, while 
scouting parties were sent into the brush to scatter 
the ambushed enemy. 

The enemy was driven from ambush, though 
two of the marines fell dead in the brush ; but at 
night the Spaniards returned to the attack, pour- 
ing in a withering rifle fire at the camp on the 
hill. 

The fight continued all night, and as the brush 
furnished a perfect ambush for the attacking force. 
Colonel Huntington decided that discretion was 
really the better part of valor, and next day pro- 
ceeded to change camp from the exposed hill- 
crest to the protected beach. The removal was 
accomplished during a hot day, under a hot fire, 
for the Spaniards, counting the removal as a re- 
treat, poured a persistent fire upon the toiling 
marines. Hiding in the brush, or wrapped in 
green branches and palm-leaves, so that they were 
completely disguised, the Spanish assailants, firing 
their smokeless powder, were no sort of targets 
for the American marines. They fought bravely, 




1 




1 ' ^/ri 


m 








Till-: .\IAKI.\ES AT (iTANTANAMO. 
("The well-drilled marines were peppering their hidden foe.") 



THE MARINES AT GUAN 1 AXAMO 14I 

however, by raid and dasli, while the warships, 
now increased by the 7\\V(7S, lielped the marines, 
shelling the brush, — though the brush was really 
all they could shell, for not a Spanish head could 
be seen. 

Men dropped under the hot but unskilful fire 
of the Spanish riflemen, and, as delays are dan- 
gerous in the unhealthy Cuban summer, the burial 
of the dead was forced to take place in the face 
of Spanish assault. This even increased to a 
furious and dangerous fire, turned upon the groups 
slathered about the Q:raves of the dead marines. 
From every convenient vantage point the riflemen 
poured in their steady fire, which might have been 
tragic and terrible in its results, had only the 
Spanish soldiers known how to shoot. 

This invasion of all the rights and decencies 
of civilized warfare, however, simply infuriated the 
marines who were paying the last honors to their 
dead comrades, and they obeyed the order to repel 
their assailants with a will and a vigor that speed- 
ily drove the Spaniards out of ambush and out 
of range. 

They were persistent, however, those Spanish 
ambuscaders. No sooner were they driven away, 
than, after a little rest, they returned again to 



142 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

their cover ; they came by day and they came by 
night, giving the marines little rest and keeping 
the ships' gunners busy, through a week of cease- 
less brush fiohtinof. 

At last. Colonel Huntington saw that he must 
drive off the Spaniards, or his camp on the beach 
would be untenable. Learninc: from Cuban scouts 
where the Spanish fighting base was located, he 
ordered out all his marines, forced a passage 
through the thick brush, pushing the still unseen 
Spaniards back from ridge to ridge, back from the 
shore to their supply station. Here the enemy, 
making no concerted stand, broke and ran seaward 
again ; but the despatch boat Dolphin saw them 
coming over the hills, and drove them back, until, 
caught between marines. Dolphin, and Cuban allies, 
certain of the encompassed Spaniards surrendered, 
while the rest, under cover of the brush, escaped 
altogether. 

Thereupon the warships in the bay reduced 
the forts in the upper bay and " cleaned out " the 
town of Caimanera at the head of the harbor. 
Possession was complete, and from that time to 
the end of the war the United States government, 
thanks to the pluck and persistence of the unher- 
alded and modest marines, held the bay and har- 



THK M.\kiNi:s Ai" (;r\Nr.\N.\MO 143 

boi" of GuaiUananiu as a base aiul supply station, 
of inestimalilc lu'lp and value in the tedious but 
efficient work of the blockading squadron at San- 
tiasio. 

How tedious and wearinir this was, the records 
of that niunth of ceaseless watching bear witness. 

Dav and niirht that \io"ilance never relaxed. 
By day, six miles off the Morro, floated the semi- 
circle of stern and frowning warships, saying to 
the Spanish admiral, "Stay in!" By night, two 
miles nearer shore, while the picket ends of the 
deadly semicircle were but a mile from the Span- 
ish batteries, the big and little ships swung to 
the tide or the wind, saying to tlie Spanish admiral, 
" Come out if vou dare ! " 

Would he dare ? Santiago had been but a 
port of refuge to him on his way to the relief of 
Havana. But that port of refuge liad proved a 
prison. XWnild he dare "break jail".'^ 

It would be a risky thing to do while Sampson 
and his watch-doos waited outside. For to all his 
squadron the American admiral issued this signifi- 
cant order: '' If the enemy tries to escape, the ships 
must close and engage as soon as possible, and en- 
deavor to sink his vessels or force them to run 
ashore in the channel. . . . The escape of the 



144 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Spanish vessels at this juncture would be a serious 
blow to our prestige and to a speedy end of the 
war." 

All day the lookouts in the tops watched the 
opening to the flask-like harbor; all night, from one 
or more great battleships, the search-lights made 
the entrance as bright as day, until the Spanish 
soldiers on Morro were well-nigh blinded and crazed 
with the steady glare, and even the men on the 
entrapped Spanish fleet and in the forts far up 
the harbor blinked and chafed under this never end- 
ing surveillance. 

The unbroken strain of watching told, too, on 
the blue-jackets and middies of the blockading 
fleet. The men in the picket boats — mostly steam 
launches or torpedo boats — never knew how soon 
the gunners in the Spanish batteries or the rifle- 
men on the beach might open fire on them, while 
the shifting and impenetrable night shadows out- 
side the circle of the electric lights were so full of 
possible danger that launches and even warships 
were, at times, " rattled " enough to bombard the 
caves under Morro, mistaking them for a slowly mov- 
ing, densely shadowed Spanish hull, or to plunge a 
nervous and scattering fire into the surf, breaking 
white against the cliffs, confident that it was the 



THE MARIXKS AT CUAN'rANAMO 



145 



"bone in llic teeth " of some escaping warship or 
torpedo boat of Spain. 

W'atcliino- is weary business. Again and again 
the jackies in the squadron grumbled at delay and 
demanded action; just as "in the States" the peo- 
ple fretted at delay. But Admiral Sampson knew 




MORRO CASTLE, SANTIAGO. 



(Here Hobson was first imprisoned. Near this cave under the castle Powell 
was to wait for Hobson, and this cave was bombarded by the fleet, mistak- 
ing the sliadow for a Spanish hull.) 

his duty ; the Navy Department recognized its 
responsibilities ; the War Board and the President 
would not depart from their plans. The capture 
and occupation of Porto Rico, a dash at the Cana- 
ries, even the bombardment of Si)ain s own coast, 
all of which an unskilled press and an unreasoning 



146 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

public frequently demanded, were not the things to 
be done. The object of the war, the reason for all 
this blockading by the navy and massing of troops 
by the army, was but the one demand to Spain : 
" Get out of Cuba ! and get out now ! " 

" As the avowed purpose and cause of our action," 
says Captain Mahan, greatest of living sea-strate- 
gists, "were not primarily redress for grievances of 
the United States against Spain, but to enforce the 
departure of the latter from Cuba, it followed logi- 
cally that the island became the objective of our 
military movements, as its deliverance from oppres- 
sion was the object of the war." 

It was to keep the Spaniards blockaded in Cuba 
that the naval vessels of the United States encircled 
that " ever faithful isle " ; it was to prevent assist- 
ance or reenforcements from Spain coming to the 
aid of the beleaguered Spaniards, that the blockade 
was so rigorously maintained, and it was necessary, 
especially at Santiago, that the " corralled " Span- 
ish cruiser should be kept " bottled up " by a 
blockade exceptionally and watchfully rigorous; it 
was to permit assistance to go to the insurgent 
Cubans and the starving reconcentrados that the 
warships closed fast about tlie island, protecting 
the frequent landing alike of arms and supplies 



THK MARINES AT CIU.W I" \X AMO 147 

for the Cul:)ans ; but, especially, the iia\al ()i)era- 
tions were centred in Cuban waters in order that, 
under the convoy of the warships and under the 
protection of their guns, the soldiers of the United 
States, now massing in camps of instruction or in 
camps of concentration, might be carried in the 
big black transports across the blue water that 
lav between Florida and Cuba, where, once safely 
landed, they should proceed, as vigorously as Yan- 
kee bovs in blue and brown know how, "to en- 
force the President's demand that Spain at once 
rclinciuish its authoritv and government in the 
island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval 
forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. ..." In 
other words, as said above, Spain was to get out 
at once, or be forced out. 

One Spanish fleet was entrapped at Santiago; 
but another Spanish fleet was known to be ready 
for action at Cadiz; and though it was said to be 
ordered to Manila to "smash Dewey," there was 
still a possibility that it might make a sudden dash 
across the Atlantic and either threaten the coast 
towns, destrov the transports, or relieve Cervcra. 
Besides these warships there were known to be in 
Havana harbor and at San Juan in Porto Rico cer- 
tain small Spanish cruisers, gunboats, and torpedo 



148 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

boats, which, while of no avail against the Ameri- 
can warships, might crawl out of their retreats in 
the darkness, and, sneaking along by devious ways 
and secret means, intercept the transports on their 
way across to Cuba, and with a sudden dash or a 
stab in the dark send many brave boys in un- 
protected ships down to " Davy Jones's locker." 

So, while the first military expedition was pre- 
paring to embark for Cuba on a war of invasion, — 
a new duty for American soldiers, — watchfulness 
on the seas and uncertainty as to the real where- 
abouts of certain wandering Spanish ships of war 
became suddenly magnified into fear for the safety 
of the transports, as rumors of a squadron of phan- 
tom cruisers, — " the spook fleet," as it came to be 
called, — delayed the embarkation and complicated 
matters. 

We laugh at it, now that the war is a thing of 
the past, and smile at the fear that held back an 
army because of a phantom fleet that never had 
any existence, save in the imagination of certain 
over-cautious skippers who made a destroying 
enemy out of equally cautious friends who did not 
return sea-siQ^nals. But had their over-caution been 
presumption instead, and their phantom fleet been 
a real one, not all the excuses that might have 



THE MARINES AT GUANTANAMO 149 

been framed \v(nilcl liavc satisfied the country for 
thc loss t)f even one transport and lier })recious 
freieht. Even if T'alstaff the boaster did say it, 
" tlie better part of valor is indeed discretion," — a 
truth which men and nations, often through hard 
experience, have to learn, as well as boys, boards of 
strategy, and captains of warships. 



CHAPTER VIII 



WHY THE BOYS CHEERED AT DAIQUIRI 



FOR a short, rough- 
and-readv, dashing- 
campaign, such as this bids 
fair to be, the best man to 
lead is General Shafter." 

Thus the commanding- 
general is said to haYC re- 
ported to the \\\ar Depart- 
ment. Whether or not he 
did so recommend in pre- 
cisely the words ascribed to 
him, it is certain that the 
War Department, upon liis advice, did appoint 
Major-General William R. Shafter, commanding 
the Fifth Corps, U.S.A., as leader of the expedi- 
•tion ordered to the invasion of Cuba — twenty 
thousand men in all, regulars and volunteers, gath- 
ered in camp at or near Tampa, on the west 
coast of Florida. 




Copyright, 1893, by B. J. Falk, N.T. 

GENERAL SHAFTER. 



150 



WIIV THE BOVS CHKKRKI) A'l" KAinriRI 151 

General Shafter was a l)ig, l^luff. sturdy soldier 
of the bull-do!^ tyP<-'' '^^it''' '^ bead that suggested 
persistence, and a will that made him the tyi^ical 
drive-aliead, rouoh-and-ready fii;hter. He was a 
veteran t>f the Ci\il War, in which he made a 
record 'for tenacity, bravery, and force, and it 
was believed that his leadership would injure a 
brief, vigorous, and successful campaign. 

Hut would that campaign ever begin? So 
queried the volunteers and regulars in camp at 
Tampa ; the officers of all ranks and degrees, 
alike in the company streets of the camp and on 
the broad piazzas of the gorgeous hotel at 
Tampa ; the impatient recruits and veterans in 
all the other camps, state and national ; and the 
waiting, anxious peoj)le at home. 

No one reallv could answer truthfully, for the 
be<'inninQ:s of a war are alwa\s uncertain. There 
are so many necessary, but halting, details, — en- 
listment, discipline, equipment, supply, health and 
comfort, — so many questions as to selection, route, 
transportation, landing, and forage, so many i)rob- 
lems of ])lan, destination, and security, that deci- 
sion comes slowly and action, at first, always drags. 

Here was an armv of two hundred thousand 
men to be handled, and the actual experience 



152 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

in war was limited to comparatively few of those 
who were preparing to invade, in summer time, 
a land where the summer is apt to be a bur- 
densome, dangerous, and even deadly season to 
those who come from the north. 

The other camps all were eager for the fray — 
eager, yet unprepared for it; but in the camp 
of concentration at Tampa, from which the first 
move was to be made, matters were even more 
uncertain and unprepared, because with the 
unpreparedness was mingled the snarl of con- 
flicting departments — commissary, medical, engi- 
neer's, and the rest. But, even while waiting for 
orders, things were put into some sort of shape, 
and when at last the command " Forward ! 
March ! " was issued, the army at Tampa was 
too glad to be up and doing, to criticise, at that 
time, the lack of sui^cient accommodation or the 
shortcomings in the way of transportation, com- 
fort, and food. 

For days the query had been, " Where are we 
going, anyhow.^" coupled with the impatient 
demand, " and when ? " Some said it was to be 
to Porto Rico, some to Santiago, some even 
expected it to be "On to Havana!" But those 
who dreaded the evils of a Cuban summer, while 



WHY THE BOYS CHEERED AT DAIOnRI 153 

anxious to act, l)clic\c(l that tlic g-ovL-rnmcnt 
would be satisfied with a na\al blockade and 
wait until the healthy season — the fall — for an 
actual invasion and a military campaii;n. 

There came, howex'er, on the 'seventh of June, 
a despatch from Admiral Sampson to tlie Secre- 
tary of tlie Navy. 

" Bombarded the forts at Santiago, to-day," he 
reported. " Have silenced works quickly without 
injury of any kind. ... If ten thousand men were 
here, city and fleet would be ours within forty- 
eight liours. Every consideration demands imme- 
diate army movement. If delayed, city will be 
defended more strongly by guns taken from rieet." 

That despatch brought immediate action. There 
was a hurried consultation at Washington. Orders 
were rushed to Tampa. The armv broke camp 
at once, and by daylight of Wednesday, June 8, it 
was at Port Tampa, nine miles away, ready to 
go aboard the transports. 

But no sooner were all the troops embarked, 
than there sprang up fears of the " phantom fleet " 
which, as I have told you, was reported as roam- 
ing about the coast on the watch for just such 
game as defenceless transports loaded with Ameri- 
can soldiers. These fears kept the expedition in 



154 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



port until tbey were proved groundless, but at last, 
on the morning of Tuesday, the fourteenth of June, 
the order came to get under way, and, casting 
off its moorings at Port Tampa, the Fifth Army 
Corps, with its naval escort, sailed in a long, 
uneven, triple column across a motionless, indigo 
sea, headed at last for the invasion of Cuba — 




AT THE DOCK AT TA.MPA. 
(Transport Concho loading for Cuba.) 

"the largest number of United States troops that 
ever went down to the sea in ships to in\'ade a 
foreign country." 

Fifty-four ships, counting the escort of war-ves- 
sels, comprised this modern armada. Upon the 
transports were embarked an army of very nearly 
seventeen thousand men, with Major-General Will- 



WHY TIIK BOYS ClIKKRi:!) AT DAK^LIRI 155 

iani R. Shaftcr in command. It consisted of the 
I'ifth Army Corps, a battalion of engineers, a de- 
tachment of the sigiial corj)s, twelve squadrons of 
unmounted cavalry, four batteries of light artillery, 
two batteries of heavy artillery, and an inde})en- 
dent brigade of regular infantry. 

Admiral Sampson's despatch was as justifiable 
as it was urgent. The plan of the War Hoard 
at W'ashinoton was to have the armv and navv 
work together for the occupation and reduction 
of Cuba. The admiral had brought things just 
to the "cooperating point," and if that miserable 
"spook fleet" of Spain, which never really existed, 
had not oone cruisino- around like a nineteenth 
century " Flying Dutchman," and driven the trans- 
ports back to shelter, the army and navy would 
have joined hands at once; forty-eight hours' work 
would have captured Santiago, and the delay the 
admiral feared would not have led to the compli- 
cation that did result. But, as General Grant 
said, " the only eyes a general can trust are his 
own," and if those eyes cannot pierce an uncer- 
tainty, it is unwise to risk too much. So the 
enibarkation was delayed for a week, and the old 
rule was again proven true, " Delays are dan- 
gerous." 



156 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

The War Board had endeavored to prepare the 
way, and the Secretary of the Navy had informed 
the admiral that the seventeen thousand men em- 
barking at Port Tampa were destined for Santiago. 
He requested the admiral to select suitable landing- 
places near Santiago and especially to secure the 
pier at Daiquiri. 

Now this Daiquiri (or Daiquiri, as it is some- 
times spelled) is the name of a little river in 
southeastern Cuba, at the mouth of which, eigh- 
teen miles to the east of Santiago, stood the 
machine shops and the ore-dock of a big iron 
company. This was the pier at Daiquiri. A few 
palm-thatched huts, in which the company's work- 
men lived, clustered about the pier, and behind 
the little settlement rose the foothills of the Ura- 
guacita Mountains, backed by the mountains them- 
selves. 

This place, it was claimed, was the most reason- 
able way by which to march an army to the invest- 
ment of Santiago, making the capture of the city 
itself rather than of the forts at the mouth of the 
harbor the work laid out for the army. For this 
was the plan of cooperation : the army was to 
attack the city in the rear, while the navy bom- 
barded the forts at the front, and thus, between 



WHY THE BOYS CHEERED AT DAIQUIRI 157 

tlicni, crusliiiiL; all opj^osition and forcing a speedy 
surrender. 

East by south, until it came abreast the north- 
ern coast of Cuba off the province of Puerto 
I'liiu ii)e, the Yankee Armada sailed; then, skirting 
the Cuban coast, past Baracoa, it ran through the 




r^^^UdTfoj Ciibj.~^ - — 



THE HEIGHTS OF JIBARA. 

(North shore of Santiago province, Cuba. At this point Columbus landed 
on the shore of Cuba. From an etching by Blaney.) 

'Windward Passage, rounded Cape Maisi, skirted 
the southern shore, and at last, at noon, on Mon- 
day the twentieth of June, the transports la\- in 
the offing before the ore-pier of Daiquiri. 

Despite all the preparations made there were 
many things lacking in that army of invasion — 



158 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

cavaliymen without horses, artillerists without guns, 
doctors without hospital stores, and cooks without 
food. But it was to be a quick, " rough-and-ready " 
campaign, and if there were no room for the caval- 
rymen's horses, no time to embark the guns of the 
artillery, no chance to get the doctors' medicines, 
and no opportunity to pick and choose the food, 
no one should complain. It was more like a big- 
picnic than anything else, and what mattered a 
little rough-and-tumble experience when it would 
all be over so soon ? 

How soon it would be over depended very 
largely upon how soon General Shafter got at 
work, and when he and Admiral Sampson met at 
last on the twentieth of June some twenty miles 
or so east of Santia2"o, and after thev had crone 
ashore at Aserraderos, eio"hteen miles west of 
Santiago, and had there conferred with the Cuban 
General Garcia, it was decided to land the invad- 
ing army at once at the ore-pier at Daiquiri. 

To make this landing in safety and to guard 
against Spanish attempts to repel the invasion, 
many things had to be provided for. The Cuban 
allies of the Yankee invaders were relied upon to 
clear the way and push back the SjDaniards from 
the vicinity of the ore-dock ; the beaches, the 



wii\- iiii': j;ovs c;iiki:ri:i) at dak^uiri 



159 




BARACOA, NEAR CAl'K MAISI. 
(The most easterly town of Cuba, in the province of Santiago.) 

beach-houses, and tlic "covers" for tliree miles to 
either .side and to the rear of the Daiquiri hmd- 
in^r. were shelled bv the war.ships to clear them 
of all intrenched or ambushed Spaniards; and a 
"false landing" was to be attempted by certain of 
the transports and their escorts at the bay of Ca- 
banas, two miles or so to the westward of Santi- 
ago, in order to draw off and divide the Spanish 
resistance. Then, wIkii thest' preliminaries had 
been attended to, the small boats of the tieet — 
whale-boats, steam cutters, and all pulling boats 



i6o OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

from the warships and transports — were to be 
filled with soldiers and speedily rowed ashore by 
the blue-jackets, or, rather, the white-jackets, of 
the fleet. 

This may all seem simple enough as you read 
it, but it was no easy task. Through the clear, 
cool morning air of that twenty-second of June, 
189S, a day to be forever notable in American 
history, the boom of the guns of the warships 
lying off the Cuban coast about Santiago tliun- 
dered out their part of the programme, clearing 
the shore of would-be Spanish obstacles to pos- 
session. Then the fussy little steam launches 
sped from ship to ship with their string of rock- 
ing rowboats, into which the soldiers tumbled, 
dropped, or sprawled, devoid of the necessary " sea- 
legs " which the landsman needs to acquire if he 
is to cut anything but a ridiculous figure on ship- 
board, and, especially, in the act of boarding a 
tossing rowboat from the deck of a rocking, un- 
steady transport. Very few of the soldiers ferried 
across to Cuba had acquired these necessary " sea- 
legs"; very many of them had never had sea-ex- 
perience ; some had never even seen the ocean 
before, and were as innocent of its moods and 
terms as was that cowboy trooper of the First 



\\\\\ iiii-: I'.ovs ciii;i:ki;i) ai dak^i iri i6i 

U.S. \'()liintcer Cavalry (populaily known as Koose- 
vclt's "Rough Ritlcrs") who, when a strong sea- 
breeze l)1e\v liis liat overl^oard, on tlie voyage to 
Cuba, announced to his comrade or " bunkie," 
"Say, Jim! mah hat fell into tlie crick!" 

The first boats are filled now, and the race for 
the shore begins. It is nt)t an easy shore for a 
landing. Upon the sandy stretch of beach the 
surf tumbles, breaks, and rolls in a fashion not 
altogether suited to the evolutions of a big keel 
rowboat; the ore-pier, built for dumping coal into 
vessels and not for landing passengers from small 
boats, is too high for use ; another small dock be- 
neath it, rickety and unprotected, is also too high 
for easy landing from small boats ; the smoke from 
the bombardment, which has split and shattered 
evervlhin<>: on shore froni the blazing stack on the 
beach to the dismantled blockhouse on the heights, 
wreathes the pitching launches and the crowded 
rowboats; nose to nose the white whale-boats head 
iov the beach ; then a chugging steam launch darts 
ahead and makes for the lower dock, and as a 
heavy sea tosses it to the level of the wharf a 
zealous half dozen troopers who have " got good 
and ready " take a llying leap, and with a glad 
hurrah strike the stringers, when with a waving of 

M 



1 62 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

muskets over their heads they shout each to each 
and each to all, " First man on shore ! " 

The whale-boats pull ahead, a long roll of 
surf carries them well up the coral-strewn beach, 
and, out of the boats, knee-deep in the tumbling 
foam, other troopers leap and spring, and with a 
louder cheer announce "First man on land!" 

The cheers from dock and beach are echoed 
and reechoed from rowboat, launch, and trans- 
port ; other boats pull into the surf or toss their 
men upon the rickety dock ; squad after squad 
is landed, while tossing hats and ringing cheers 
tell that the long suspense is broken, and that 
the army of liberation is at last really on Cul^an 
soil, ready for the duty of delivering it from its 
four hundred years of slavery and oppression. 

But in the midst of all the shouts and scramble 
of an invading army, up the trail that threads 
the hill behind Daiquiri, four men are racing 
with a purpose that has been theirs since first, 
from their dancing keel boats, they spied the 
empty flagpole that tops the Spanish blockhouse 
on the crest of the ridge. Now they come into 
view beside it, dwarfed by distance, and all their 
comrades on ship and shore divine their purpose. 
A moment only they pause ; then, pulling away at 



WI!V I I II liOVS CHKKRKI) AT DAKjllKl 163 

the clicking halvards, a bit of bunting climbs tlic 
empty pole; anotlicr instant and tlie stars and 
stripes tiutter in the breeze, hauled aloft by vigor- 
ous and determined hands; then the soft but steady 
sea-breeze borne in from Cuban waters catches 
the folds of red and white and blue, and straight 
out from the top of its Spanish staff streams the 
American flag, dear to millions of hearts, the symbol 
of liberty, humanity, occupation and liberation, the 
notice to Spain that, as the President of the United 
States had declared, " In the name of humanity, 
the intolerable conditions in Cuba must cease!" 

And as the glorious stars and stripes fluttered 
out from the Spanish flagstaff, all the pent-up 
enthusiasm of regular and volunteer, of "dough- 
boy" and "Jackie," of landsman and seaman, of 
commander and commanded, of figluing man and 
non-combatant, of Yankee trooper and Cuban 
allv, of the liberator and the liberated, burst into 
one mighty chorus of cheers, which, mingling 
with the shrill clangor of steam whistles on 
launch and transport and warship, filled all the 
soft Cuban air with one long, vociferous, joyful, 
deafening salute to "Old Glory," streaming out 
above the captured blockhouse on the green 
heights above the sea-beach of Daiquiri. 



1 64 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Unopposed they had scored their first success. 
" The country," says Colonel Roosevelt, " would 
have offered very great difficulties to an' attacking 
force had there been resistance. It was little but 
a mass of rugged and precipitous hills, covered for 
the most part by dense jungle. Five hundred reso- 
lute men could have prevented the disembarkation 
at very little cost to themselves." But Spanish 
resolution was lacking; the occupation of Cuba 
had been accomplished ; the army of liberation had 
gained an unopposed footing on Cuban soil, and 
Spain had made one more of its many mistakes 
throuo-h its fear of Yankee Q-unners and its distrust 
of its own defenders. 



CHAPTER IX 



now TIIEV CLEARED THE JUNGLE AT GUASIMAS 




THE landing; was accom- 



plished ; now for the 
" Eorward, march ! " The 
" Rough Riders " of Wood's 
l^rst Cavahy had hoisted 
the flaof on the blockhouse 
at Daiquiri; now the army 
must press on until it had 
raised the stars and stripes 
above the conquered de- 
fences of Santiago. 

The work before our sol- 
dier boys of '98 was no child's play. Santiago lay 
behind its fortifications eighteen miles away. It 
was protected on the water side by a Spanish fleet 
and a chain of Spanish forts; on the land side it 
was defended by embankments and blockhouses, 
big forts and trenches, and miles of entangling 
wire fences, while, between these and the American 

lOs 



■ ; y; .i.t. ISW. 1)J B. J. Fllk. S.V. 

COLONEL ROOSEVELT. 



1 66 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

army there were streams to be forded, jungles to 
be cleared, and embattled heights to be won, as, 
one above the other, the terraced foothills of the 
Urao^uacita Mountains reared themselves as a series 
of natural ramparts between Santiago and the sea. 
But there is no such abbreviated obstacle as 
"can't" in the "bright lexicon" of America, from 
liberating a people to governing a world; and with 
such a " rough-and-ready " commander as General 
Shafter — "Bull Shafter " they used to call him 
in the army — what was to be done must be 
done and done quickly. Little things, like easy 
landing, comfort in camp, and " luxuries " on the 
march, were not to be considered by him when 
there was work to be accomplished, demanding 
instant action and heroic measures. The jungle 
must be cleared, the terraces must be won, the 
road to Santiago must be kept open from the sea, 
the American army must at once encompass the 
beleaguered city on the land in order to hasten 
the final blow from the blockading fleet on the 
sea. The work admitted of no hesitation and of 
no delay, and at once General Shafter set out to 
demonstrate that geometrical axiom, that a straight 
line is the shortest distance between two points — 
one point was at Daiquiri, the other was at Santiago. 



TTow '^Il^.^• ci,EARr.n 'I'ln: ]rx(u,E 



167 



I rcniembcr, when I was a boy, planning a 
vacation walk from New York to Boston. There 
were three of us in the party, and, boy-like, we 
desired even a vacation walk to be by the most 
direct route; so we laid a ruler on the nia]) and 
drew a straitjht line between New York and Bos- 
ton. W'c followed that straight line, l^ut as I 
look back at it now, I can see that our straiglit 
line " wobbled" a ltoocI deal cu roiilc. It was much 




SPAN'ISM " I-ORTIXi:, OK roKT NO. I. OlTSlIJi: OK S.\NTIA(;0. 



the same with the straight line laid down by 
General Shafter: it "wobbled." With hill and \ale. 
allar and mesa, creek and jungle, and with Spanish 
soldiers in Spanish blockhouses on every avail- 
able height, the straight line must necessarily 



1 68 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

have been rather ragged and wavering ; but of 
this you may rest assured — it was to lead from 
Daiquiri to Santiago. And it did ! 

The first work was to clear the jungle of hos- 
tile Spaniards, and open up the road to Santiago, 
as it wound through the narrow defile, choked by 
neglect, into little more than an overgrown tropical 
trail. This road climbed by three ascents the 
ridges toward Santiago. The valleys it crossed 
were thick with jungle and chaparral, and laced 
and netted with vines and creepers, out of which 
sprang, here and there, palms and banian trees or 
almost impenetrable hedges of the prickly cactus 
and the murderous " Spanish bayonets." 

To drive the Spaniards from roadway and jun- 
ole, the first forward movement was made on the 
twenty-third of June. At Siboney, nine miles to 
the west of Daiquiri pier, the transports w^ere still 
unloading men and tools and supplies on the 
coral-lined beach, and along the road that led to 
Siboney General Wheeler advanced from Daiquiri 
with two squadrons of the First Volunteer Cavalry 
(the " Rough Riders "), one squadron of the First 
and one of the Third Regulars and three Hotch- 
kiss guns. The general w^as anxious to push the 
fiohtinor. He had "felt" the road and Cuban 



HOW TIIF.V CI.KARKD THI' jrXGLE 169 

scouts liad loltl him that ihc S}xiniarcls were in- 
trenched at a place wliere two roads fi-oni Sihoney 
niet to form a wider road, which led into the 
Santiago highway. General Wheeler's plan was 
to })ush forward liis picket line and, if possible, 
dislodge the Spaniards at the fork in the road 
known as Guasimas, so called from the orrowth 
of West Indian elms, or guaziinia trees, wliich 
spring from the jungle at that point. 

Out of Siboney, a town of thirty or forty 
mean little houses, the force destined by General 
Wheeler to clear the jungle of Spaniards marched, 
at half-past five o'clock in the morning of June 
24, — eiglit troops of the Rough Riders, five 
hundred strong (on foot, of course, for their horses, 
you remember, had been left behind at Tampa). 
They took a narrow trail-like road which climbed 
the ridge and led toward Guasimas; half a mile 
to the right, along a parallel trail known as the 
Sevilla road, General Young with four troops of 
the First and four troops of the Tenth Cavalry, 
two hundred and twenty men in all, were also 
advancing toward Guasimas. Between the two 
trails lay a valley thick with brush and jungle. 
The only artillery in the advance was the three 
llotchkiss mountain guns, drawn with General 



I/O OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Youne's column. With this column also rode 
General Wheeler, the commander of the advance. 
At half-past seven General Young halted his 
column in an open glade near to the fork in the 
roads at Guasimas and there " located " the enemy. 
At once he unlimbered his battery of mountain 
ofuns, sent a Cuban scout across to the other trail to 
notify Colonel Wood, deployed his column so as 
to assault in fiank, and then directed his attack 
so that both wings should fight forward to meet 
at the main point of attack — a stone fort or block- 
house on an angle of the ridge. 

Over a mass of hidden vines and creepers, 
through brush and jungle, cutting through con- 
cealed barbed-wire fences and scaling rocky rises 
toward the ridge, the troopers of the First and 
Tenth made slow headway, fighting a hidden 
enemy using smokeless powder, and only to be 
located in the jungle by the sound and direction 
of his fire ; the two wings came together finally 
in this jungle maze and together advanced upon 
the enemy in the face of a continuous fire. 
Whenever a clear space was reached where the 
troopers could get anything like a sight of the 
Spaniards, they would fire in return, but the ad- 
vance never slackened; not a man fell out, not a 



HOW I'lIIA' CLKARKH TIIF. JUNGLE i/r 

straoolcr laLTircd l^eliind. " Thcv were led most 
gallantly," says Colonel Roosevelt, "as American 
regular officers lead their men ; and the men fol- 
lowed their leaders with the splendid courage 
always shown by the American soldier." So, 
straight on, those seasoned regulars pressed, until 
at last the Spaniards could not longer withstand 
the advance. Turning, they fled i)reci})itately 
down the slopes, while the cavalrymen occupied 
the abandoned fortifications, and the heights be- 
yond Sibonev were won. 

Meantime, along the left-hand trail the Rough 
Riders marched on to the rendezvous — the fork 
in the road at Ciuasimas. In front went Captain 
Capron and his troop as an advance guard, pre- 
ceded by Cuban scouts; behind came the colonel 
and his men in brown. All about them, save on 
the narrow trail they trod, in single file, stretched 
the jungle, an almost impenetrable tangle of bush 
and tree and vine ; but no sign of Spanish ambush 
came, until, suddenly, the advance halted and 
Colonel Wood, reconnoitrinc:, determined to force 
the fighting, if any enemy lay concealed in that 
tangled cover. He, too, as had General Young on 
the other trail, had " located " the enemy ; but here 
was no open glade for a base of operations. He 



172 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



and his troops were "corralled" in the jungle. 
Like the veteran fighter he was, however, Colonel 
Wood proposed to clear that jungle. One troop 
was ordered to beat the bushes on the riorht of 
the trail, the others were sent down into the valley 




THE JUNGLE PATH AT GUASIMAS. 

('•All about them, save on the narrow trail they trod, in single file, 
stretched the jungle.") 

toward Young's column or into the dense growth 
on the left. 

Advancing thus, cautiously, in what is called 
"open skirmish order," the columns felt the way 
along until finally, from the jungle, came the heavy 
Spanish fire and the Rough Riders were in action. 

Drilled for cavalry, for fighting on horseback, 
these volunteer cavalrymen, like the regular cav- 



]K)\V IHl.V CI.KARF.n TTIK Jl'Xr.LE 173 

alryiiK'H in Cicnoral Young's column, were, as Cicn- 
cral Sliaftcr declares, equally well drilled to fiiLcbt 
on foot, and, as his experience in all Spanish coun- 
tries had been that there were no roads worthy 
the name, he had deemed it best to have his 
ca\-alry fight di>mounted. 

The sequel proved the wisdom of his decision ; 
horses would have been well-nigh useless on that 
narrow, tangled trail; while the trained horsemen 
of the regular cavalry and of the Rough Riders 
fought valiantly on foot, and, just as Young's 
column on the right-hand road was stopped by no 
obstacle, dismayed by no jungle, and careless as 
to the number of their opponents, so the men of 
Wood's column showed equal determination and 
fought with equal valor. 

Slowly advancing, and firing as they advanced. 
Wood's men pressed the Spaniards steadily back, 
capturing their blockhouse, forcing their line, and 
occupying their strong position in the rocks. 
Then, at last, they saw the SjDanish foe, and a 
heavy fire on both sides followed. Men and offi- 
cers fell, as they had fallen on the trail, but still 
the Americans advanced, retaining their excellent 
order. A withering fire from the ridge above, on 
which was the rock fort that certain of Young's 



1/4 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

cavalry were also storming, burst upon the bra\-e 
Rough Riders ; but with a cheer they gained the 
ridge, and the Spaniards turned in flight. There 
on the ridge the fighting column of Wood joined 
the equally victorious troops of Young, and the 
united columns found themselves victors on the 
field. 

Then their horses at Tampa would have come 
in well. " Had we possessed any mounted men or 
even fresh foot troops," said Colonel Wood, " I 
think we could have captured a large portion of 
the Spanish force." But the heat and the hard 
work told on the men, and their task for that day 
was accomplished. They had cleared the jungle, 
sent the Spaniards in front flying to their main 
line, and captured, by persistent and always advanc- 
ing assault, the height above Siboney. The way 
for the advance of the army of invasion had been 
valorously opened, and the fight at Guasimas had 
been won by the dismounted cavalrymen of 
Wheeler's brave division. 

" There was no ambush, as has been reported," 
General Shafter says. " The engagement had an 
inspiring effect on the whole army, showing, as 
it did, that the Spanish troops could not stand 
against us, while it proved to our men that they 



now TiTi-.v CLEARF.n THK jrxGLr: 175 

could whip the Spaniards if they could only get 
at them." 

The skirmish at Guasimas had not been won 
without serious loss. Brave men, white and black, 
had fallen in the ranks of the fighting cavalry- 
men, and valuable lives had paid the price of 
victory. Sixteen killed and fifty-two — one man 
out of every fourteen engaged — wounded either 
fatally or severely was the total score. Forty-two 
of these sixty-eight fell in the ranks of the Rough 
Riders, who, in the dense jungle of the slopes at 
Guasimas, were making their first stand and wag- 
incr their first fioht. Those " orrim hunters of the 
mountains, and rough riders of the plains," as 
Colonel Roosevelt calls them, " had left their 
lonely hunters' cabins and shifting cow-camps to 
seek new and more stirrini*' adventures bevond the 
sea," and with them, also, as volunteer cavalrymen 
were men of quite another stamp: "recruits," says 
Colonel Roosevelt, " from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, 
and manv another collesfe ; from clubs like the 
Somerset, of Boston, and Knickerbocker, of New- 
York ; and from amono- the men who beloncred 
neither to club nor to colleire, but in whose veins 
the blood stirred with the same impulse which 
once sent the Mkings over sea." 



1/6 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



Of three thousand men, five hundred marched 
from Siboney to clear the jungle at Guasimas, 
on the twenty-fourth of June. Of that five hun- 
dred, almost one-tenth, forty-two in all, fell 




CAMP OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 
(On the battlefield of Guasimas after they had " cleared the jungle.") 

wounded or dying on the grassy slope. Chief 
among these was the gallant Allyn Capron, cap- 
tain of L troop — " invaluable, from his extraor- 
dinary energy, executive capacity, and mastery 
over men ; . . . the ideal of what an American 
regular army officer should be ; in body and 
mind alike fitted to play his part to perfection — 
the very archetype of the fighting man," so 
Colonel Roosevelt assures us. Leading the 



now 'i'H!:v ci.karkd 'rm". jixcLi': 177 

iichaiKc, lie fir^t nict and rcj^cllcd the enemy, 
"and it was in the performance of this duty," 
runs Colonel Woods report, "that the captain 
was mortally wounded. The service he per- 
formed i)rior to his death, and the work of his 
troops subsequently to it, were of the greatest 
value . in contributing to the success of this 
enii'afremcnt." 

With him fell Sergeant Hamilton Fish, ex- 
captain of the Columbia College crew, kin to 
that Secretary of State wlio, when the Virgiuiiis 
massacre was " adjusted " with Spain, declared 
that the Cuban prol^leni was certain at some 
day to lead to blood and war. " ' God gives,' " so 
writes Mr. Davis, "was the motto on the watch 
I took from his blouse; and God could not have 
oiven him a nobler end, — to die in the forefront 
of the first fight of the war, quickly, painlessly, 
with a bullet through the heart, with his regi- 
ment behind him, and facing the enemies of his 
country." 

Dead and wounded, these thirty-four men 
marked the Rough Riders' "baptism of blood"; 
the\- had fouglit bravely and were as bravely 
led. Colonel Wood and his lieutenant-colonel, 
Theodore Roosevelt, who gave up his post of 



178 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Assistant Secretary of the Navy to go " some- 
how or other to the front and improve the 
opportunity," as he expressed it, " of driving the 
Spaniards from the western world," were both 
praised by their superior of^cers, Wheeler and 
Young, and recommended for the promotion that 
speedily came. 

" Both Colonel Wood and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Roosevelt," ran the report of General Young, 
" disdained to take advantao^e of shelter or cover 
from the enemy's fire while any of their men 
remained exposed to it; an error of judgment," 
so the disciplinarian declared, " but, happily," the 
lover of good fighting hastens to add, " an error 
on the heroic side." 

"They heard no bugle-peal to thrill, 

As they crouched in the tangled grass, 
But the sound of bullets whirring shrill 
From hidden hollow and shrouded hill ; 
And they fought as only the valiant will, 
In the glades of Guasimas." 

And in General Youno-'s own column — the 
brave fellows of the First and the " black giants " 
of the Tenth — was equal valor of leadership and 
of fighting. 

" The behavior of all men of the regular and 



HOW THF.V CLKARKI) Till- JUNGLK 179 

VDluntccr forces engaged in tin's action was sim- 
ply superb," said General ^^)unL;" in his report of 
the flight, "and I feel highly honored in the com- 
mand of such troops." 

" The brush at Guasimas," as General Shafter 
calls the first land battle of the war, may have 
been only a "brush" — not c\en a skirmish; but 
it was the test of courage, steadiness, and ef^- 
ciency in the first hostile encounter of American 
soldiers on an invaded soil. It may have been 
premature, as General Shafter intimates when he 
says that he had intended that Lawton should 
keep ahead, but that Young's brigade, moving on 
"in the search for suitable ground," was in the 
lead of Lawton in marchin"" and attackino; the 
"well-placed Spanish column of observation"; but 
the report of the dash of the Rough Riders and 
the steadiness of the "black giants" thrilled the 
countrv when the news of the fiu:ht was ticked 
and bulletined all over the land, while, as the opti- 
mistic General Wheeler explained in his report, 
"the engagement at Guasimas ins|)irited our trooj:)s 
and must have had a bad effect upon the sj^irits 
of the Spanish soldiers. It also gave our army a 
beautiful and well-watered country in which we 
have established our encampments. Ii has also 



i8o OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

given us a full view of Santiago and the sur- 
rounding country and enabled us to reconnoitre 
close up to the fortifications of that place." 

" The brush at Guasimas " was, therefore, a 
positive first step in the advance from the sea to 
Santiago. It had cleared the jungle, won the 
first of the foothills, opened the way for advanced 
communication, and, at the cost of brave men's 
lives and of hurt to brave men's bodies, it had 
swung armed invasion into open conflict and 
shown the world that America was ready to 
back up her word, at any risk and at any cost. 



CHAPTER X 

HOW THEV BROKE THE LINE AT EL CANEY AND 
STORMED THE HILL OF SAN JUAN 



T 



1 1 K Yankees were beaten, but they per- 
sisted in fighting, and we were obliged to 

fall back." 

So ran the Spanish report of the skirmish at 
Guasimas on June 24. This experience with Ya-n- 
kee persistence was to continue throughout the 
campaign in Cuba, in spite of trench and troclia, 
fence and foriiiic, jungle and mudhole, shot and 
shell, smokeless powder, and malarial fe\er, as, 
step by step, ridge after ridge was won, and regu- 
lars and volunteers "persisted" in pushing on to 
the red-tiled roofs and yellow walls of Santiago. 

The red roofs and yellow walls of the picturesque 
old town had already been seen from afar b\- the 
scouts and advanced pickets of the American 
army; for the men wlu) had won the ridge above 
Guasimas kept it, and for a week their white dog- 
tents dotted the slope and checkered the vivid 

green of ridge and 7ncsa. 

181 



1 82 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

" Keep your front thoroughly picketed and also 
your right flank and well in advance," said General 
Shafter to General Wheeler, who was in command 
at Guasimas ; " but do not try any forward move- 
ment until further orders." 

This forward movement the commanding gen- 
eral wished to be both simultaneous and uniform, 
and his plan of attack was to flank the Spanish 
army of defence and get his attacking force be- 
tween the Spanish troops and Santiago. 

" If I can get the enemy in my front and the 
city at my back," said General Shafter, " I can 
very soon make them surrender or drive them 
toward the Morro." 

And to drive them toward the Morro — the old 
castle crowning the hill at the narrow entrance to 
the harbor — would be to drive them straight into 
the mouths of the waiting guns of the war-fleet. 

This manoeuvre General Shafter believed would 
be much better than to attempt an immediate and 
regular siege of Santiago. He knew the exaspera- 
tions of a Spanish trail ; he recognized the labor 
of transporting heavy batteries of siege-guns and 
ponderous ammunition wagons up and over the 
apologies for roads that crossed the table-lands, 
swamps, jungles, and ridges that lay between Sibo- 



EL CANEV WD SAX ITAX 



i8: 



ncy and Santiago. Shaflcr was there to force a 
ciuick, univlentini;", and persistent assault. 

" The sooner it's over, the sooner it's done," was 
his theory, and hurrying his fresli troops and re- 
enforcenieiils iij) from the sliore he posted his 
acKance line at a sugar })lantalion called Kl Pozo, 




THE ROAD TO EL CANEV. 
(Over which the regulars marched to the battle.) 

set up his own headquarters a mile behind the 
advance, with the most of his armv stretchin<r 
back to the Siboney Road, and then i)re})ared to 
put his ]Dlan into operation. 

This j)lan, as I have explained, was to get be- 
tween the Spaniards and Santiago. To accomplish 
this, he proposed to have one brigade hold the 



1 84 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

road between Santiago and the little town four 
miles to the northeast of Santiago ; this was known 
as El Caney, and here the Spanish army was 
strongly posted. This manoeuvre would cut off 
their retreat, while an attack upon the Spanish 
line in front of Santiago would clear away or 
capture all the troops outside the eastern de- 
fences of the town. 

The plan was simple, and would have worked 
to a charm had there not been other things besides 
Spanish soldiers in the way. 

One of these was a dense forest ; beyond that 
the heights of San Juan, carved into trenches and 
crowned with blockhouses ; two branches or creeks 
cuttinor the thick woodland ; the villao-e of El 
Caney, fortified strongly ; while every ridge was 
seamed with trenches and held by Spanish marks- 
men with their deadly Mauser guns. 

That fortified village of El Caney must be 
taken; those trench-streaked heights of San Juan 
must be won ; and the attacking Americans were 
but poorly supplied with field artillery, useless in 
battering down stone ramparts, and too weak for 
an aggressive assault. 

But it would not do to wait for strengthening 
the artillery line, and at once the right and left 



i:[, CAXF.v AND SAX |l:an 



1 85 



wings were ordered to achdnee upon the dut)- 
assigned tliem — the right to capture 1*^1 Caney, 
the left to assault the lines on San Juan. So, 
to the riiiht marched Lawton and Chaffee, with 
Bates's independent brigade of regulars and volun- 
teers, and the small battery of field-guns captained 




WHERli THE RIGHT WING MARCHED. 
(The road to El Caney. The Spanish fort crowns the hill in the distance.) 

by the veteran Capron, father of that gallant cap- 
tain of the Rough Riders who fell at Guasimas ; to 
the left marched Sumner and Carroll and Wood, 
with Kent bringing up the rear, while far to the 
left tlie supporting column of Dutfield, backed 
by the guns of the fleet, was massed for the attack 
on the little port of Aguadores. 



1 86 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN . 

It was the morning of F"riday, the first clay of 
July; regulars and volunteers had trailed off during 
the night to action, and almost with the day the 
double battle began. 

The duty assigned to Lawton and his men 
was seemingly easy. When El Caney was cleaned 
of Spaniards they would march toward Santiago, 
and, joining Sumner and Kent on the San Juan 
ridges, the combined forces would proceed to en- 
gage and " do ujd " the Spanish army in front of 
Santiago. 

It seemed easy enough ; but things, you know, 
" are not always what they seem." The American 
advance had met and defeated the Spaniards at 
Guasimas ; but there the enemy was fighting from 
ambush, screened by the jungle. Now, the fight- 
ing was to be more in the open, and the Spanish 
defenders were to display a persistent heroism 
they were not supposed to possess. 

Behind the fortifications and within the rifle- 
pits of El Caney, one thousand Spaniards, under 
the command of General Vara del Rey, awaited 
the American advance. Over the stone fort on 
the hill above El Caney waved the flag of Spain, 
and, soon after six o'clock on that July morning, 
the first shot of the battle, flung by " Capron's 



EL CANEY AND SAN JUAN 



187 



Pet," was sent like a clialk'iiL:;c at that Spaiiisli 
llag. Slowly the advance of Law ton's (-oluniii, the 
men of Chaffee's brigade, cre})t over the ridges 




"capron's pet." 

(Gun served by Captain Capron of the artillery in his field battery before 

Santiago.) 

toward VA Caney, and by eiglit o'clock they had 
reached the little thatched town on the hill, in 
wliich even the towered church was embattled, 
while before it and all about it. wherever a trench 
had been cut, rose a Spanish soldier with his 
death-dealing Mauser, to ])ick off the American 
advance. 

Little ])y little, Lawton's three brigades, led by 
Chaffee. Miles, and Ludlow, closed in upon the 
little hill town. Hut the four li.-ht < 



giuis of Ca- 



1 88 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

pron's battery, though persistent and pkicky, could 
scarcely hope to batter down the stone walls of 
the old stone fort above the town, and until that 
was taken El Caney would hold out ; for General 
del Rey and his thousand men valiantly stuck to 
their posts, and died there, as brave men can. 

Their Mauser rifles, worked with smokeless pow- 
der, were a formidable means of resistance to the 
American regulars and their Krag-Jorgensen guns. 
Every step of the advance was dearly paid for, and 
of^cers and men dropped under the withering fire 
from fort, and trenches, and barricaded town. 

For four hours the slow advance and fighting 
at long range went on ; then Lawton determined 
to rush the line, moving Capron s battery closer 
in, and pushing forward his troopers and infantry 
by a charge on hill and trenches. 

Just at that moment an aide from headquarters 
came galloping up; another and another followed 
in quick succession. They bore the commanding 
generals orders to Lawton, that, as the centre was 
in danger at San Juan, and the affair at Agua- 
dores had not turned out well, he was to give 
up the plan of the assault on El Caney, and 
hasten to the support of the imperilled centre 
below the heights of San Juan. 



EL CANEV AND SAN JUAN 189 

"Turn l:)ack now?" rricd hravc Lawton, "now, 
when to tinii would be defeat? See here, Major!" 
and " about-wheeHng " IMajor Noble, of Shafter's 
own staff, who had dashed up with the latest or- 
ders, the general galloped him along the hring 
line. 

What IMajor Noble saw led him to modify his 
orders. 

"You're right, General. It's the critical moment; 
it would be suicide to turn back. Go in and win, 
and then make your union with Wheeler's division." 

Even as he spoke, the order was given. The 
men had waited in leash too long, exposed to the 
killing fire of the Mausers, to willingly turn their 
backs on the final tussle. With a shout the ad- 
vance began. Ludlow on the left, and ChafTee on 
the right, dashed to the charge. Ludlow's men car- 
ried the Santiago road ; a battalion of the Twenty- 
second Infantry dashed up a hill beyond the road, 
and covered and prevented the only means of re- 
treat from El Caney to Santiago ; while on the 
right, Chaffee, with a superb dash, sent the Seventh 
Infantry (half of them recruits, in their first battle) 
swarming up the hill : like goats the black veterans 
of the Twenty-fourth closed in on the gallantly 
defended fort, and as the Spanish flag fell with a 



IQO 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



well-directed shot, ditch and trench, outwork and 
fort, were carried by that resistless rush, and El 
Caney was won. 

But at what a cost that " easy duty " was ac- 
complished ! Dead and wounded Americans lay 
scattered before the town and along the slope ; 
dead and wounded Spaniards filled the trenches 
and the fort. Del Rey, stubborn and brave de- 
fender to the last, lay dead amid his officers and 




AFTER THE BATTLE. 
(The blockhouse or fort at El Caney as it looked after the line was rushed.) 

men; while the remnant, laying down the guns 
with which they had so valiantly stood by their 
trenches, gave themselves up as prisoners and 
marched, as they supposed, to certain death. 



EL CANF.\' AND SAX JTAX 191 

"Why should \vc chink?" asked tlic Spani.sli 
corjioral, who. with liis handful of nicn, L;"av(j ujj, 
the last defenders of an outlying blockhouse, as 
their American cajDtors offered them canteens of 
water. " \\h\- should we drink when we are 
about to die ? " 

" I think you arc not to die," replied Major 
Noble, who, despatched to recall Lawton, had re- 
mained to see the final charge; "we are civilized 
men, and you are brave ones." 

Meanwhile the imperilled centre, for whose relief 
Noble had galloped to Lawton, had wrested victory 
from disaster. There six regiments of the cavalry 
division, dismounted troopers all, advanced in ex- 
tended skirmish line toward the heiohts of San 
Juan ; after them came the infantry division, while 
Grimes's battery of field-guns opened fire upon the 
blockhouse which, like a jDagoda, towered above 
the crest of San Juan hill. 

Through underbrush and trees, where the nar- 
rowincr trail marked the uncertain wav, fordine 
the San Juan Ri\er and the smaller creek beyond, 
the cavalry advanced, pushed forward, and there 
halted to await their comrades, and the union with 
Lawton's men, who were first to "clear out" El 
Caney. 



192 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



But the " clearing out," as you know, was not 
done in a hurry; for a full hour the centre waited, 
exposed to a galling fire from blockhouse, trench, 
and Spanish sharpshooter. To go back was im- 
possible, for the trail was choked with the advanc- 




THE SAN JUAN RIVER. 
(Which the boys forded on their way to San Juan hill.) 

ing rear; to go back was not American when 
duty lay in front. 

Lieutenant Miley, General Shafter's aide, studied 
the situation. 

" The troops should press on in front," he said. 
" The men alonsf the road are being; hit by bullets. 
The heights must be taken at all hazards. A 
retreat now would mean a disastrous defeat." 



EL CANEY AND SAN JUAN 193 

But defeat was tlic last thine: the rcGfulars and 
Rougli Riders could think of or permit. The only 
way to conquer was to advance. The only escape 
was, as Mr. Davis says, "by taking the enemy by 
the throat, driving him out, and beating him down." 

"The heiohts must be taken at all hazards," Lieu- 
tenant Miley declared ; General Sumner pointed at 
the blockhouse on the hill of San Juan, which, 
gorgeously backed by the red foliage of the big 
tropical tonic shrub which they call the flamboy- 
ant tree, stood out a fair and flaming mark. 

There was but a moment of indecision. Then, 
out of the jungle and into the open plain, dashed 
brave, white-haired General Hawkins and the First 
Brigade, the Sixth and Sixteenth Infantry, and in 
the face of a galling fire swept up the hill; there 
is another rush, and up the hill, mingling with the 
infantry of Hawkins's Brigade, dash the unmounted 
troopers of the Tenth Cavalry and the now famous 
Routih Riders. 

Not in serried columns, nor with lowered bayo- 
nets, in the fashion of the old-time story-book 
charges, but singly, and in bunches, low-stooping, 
fast-creeping, like the Indian fighters that most of 
them have been, infantryman and trooper, cowboy 
and football rusher, climb up that deadly slope. 



194 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

With voice and bugle-call that noble-looking 
veteran Hawkins led on his men ; galloping far 
ahead, his blue polka-dot handkerchief streaming 
from his bie sombrero like Navarre's orifiamme at 
Ivry, that embodiment of vigorous young America, 
Theodore Roosevelt, urged his Rough Riders to 
their work; hot and fierce in the rain of Mauser 
bullets from blockhouse and rifle-pits, but up, 
up, and on, heedless of the fire in front, heedless 
of the heroes dropping all about them, black and 
white, regular and Rough Rider, the American sol- 
dier charged up the hill; the Spanish soldier reeled 
backward from trench and blockhouse, and the 
first height is won. 

Then down, under the hill, across the gully and 
up the other slope, the laboring troopers dash; 
straight on against the heavily intrenched heights 
of San Juan, swinging now to the right, where, 
down from the "bloody angle" rains the leaden 
hail; against it, over it, into it, while the brave but 
overmastered Spaniards, unused to such determined 
onsets, drop everything and flee wildly from the 
crest; then, at last, above that crest the stars and 
stripes stream out in token of victory, and the height 
of San Juan, the key to Santiago's safety, is won. 

" I ordered a charoe, and the men rushed the 



EL CANKY AND SAN JUAN 197 

blockhouses and rillc-pils on ihc hill in hnc .sluipc," 
said Roosevelt's simple^ report. " We then opened 
fire on the intrenchments on a hill to our left 
which some of our men were assailing and which 
they carried a feu niinutes later. . . . When the 
men got their wind we charged again and carried 
the second line of intrenchments with a rush. 
Swinging to the left, we thus drove the Spaniards 
o\er the I)row of the chain of hills fronting Santi- 
ago. . . . Word was sent me to hold the line at all 
hazards, and that night we dug a line of intrench- 
ments across our front, using the captured Spanish 
intrenching-tools. We had nothing to eat except 
what we captured from the Spaniards; but their 
dinner had fortunately been cooked, and we ate 
theirs with a relish, haxing been fighting all day." 
That is the picture of the now historic charge 
up San Juan heights, drawn by one of the heroes 
in the lead; it was the Rough Riders' great oppor- 
tunity, and gallantly did they improve it. Right well 
has Clinton ScoUard tuned their rush to rhyme: — 

" Ay, they fought, let their blood attest ! — 
The blood of their comrades gone ; 
Fought their bravest aiul fought their best 
As when, like a wave, in their zealous zest 
They swept and surged o'er the sanguine crest 
Of the heights of San Juan." 



198 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

But, with equal valor, the less heralded but 
fully as determined regulars flung themselves into 
the charge. Up the slopes and over the hills 
they swept; officers and men dropped beneath the 
deadly fire of ambushed sharpshooters and pro- 
tected trench-men; at the ford, beneath the trees, 
and on the slopes they fell, but still the shirt- 
sleeved line pressed on. Mingling with the Rough 
Riders of the First Volunteer Cavalry, the black 
troopers of the Tenth charged with them the first 
of the fortified hills ; crawling, running, charging, 
firing, the men from five regular infantry regi- 
ments indistinguishably mingled dashed, pell-mell, 
against Fort San Juan on the second hill, cap- 
turing the enemy's colors, sending the Spanish 
defenders scurrying to cover, and moving with 
that unconsciousness of disciplined heroism which 
led their commander General Kent, to say, " The 
bloody fighting of my brave command cannot be 
adequately described in words." Therefore, while, 
as Mr. Barnes says, 

" There's always a cheer for the volunteer, 

There's ever a welcoming host, 
The wide land stretches a greeting hand — 

Glad hail from the hill to the coast ! 
There's none but will vaunt the deeds he's done ! 

Let us praise them and pledge him high 1 " 



EL CAN FY AND SAX ll'AX 



199 



let us always gratefully remember the regulars, 
white and black. For, to quote again from 
Barnes's verse, 

'• Who rushed the lines on the San Juan hill ? 

^^'ho at Caney fought alone ? 
The enlisted regular fighting man — 

The soldier — bred to the bone ! 
Who bore the big brunt of the battle front? 

Should we speak it below a breath ? 
The enlisted regular fighting man, 

Who cheered as he charged to the death ! " 




THE RESERVES WAITING FOR ORDERS. 
(" We were to go in the moment they wavered and they didn't waver.") 

And down under the hill, chafincf at the disci- 
pline that necessarily kept him and his men in 
reserve for possible emergencies, the fighting major 



200 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

of the Second Cavalry gave just one grumble as 
the fight concluded: — 

" We were to go in, boys, the moment they 
wavered," he complained; "but they didn't waver 
worth a cent, and so you've all missed being in 
the greatest charge that our army has ever made." 

It was a great charge, indeed, even though 
it was not the theatrical onset of uniformed 
platoons with lowered bayonets and in serried 
ranks. That unbroken, unyielding advance up 
an intrenched hill, in the face of Spanish Mau- 
sers and with men dropping right and left, will be 
ever famous, ever historic ; for the brave onrush 
of unfaltering, undismayed heroes in the face of 
certain death has glorified every such display of 
courage from Bunker Hill and Balaklava to Dar- 
gai Ridge and San Juan. It is such a deed, 
especially, as sets the Anglo-Saxon pulse a-tingle, 
making one forget nationality for a time and ex- 
claim with the enthusiastic English captain, de- 
tailed for neutral observation, as he watched the 
assault on San Juan, "Boys, the victory is oiirs ! 
the victory is ours!''' 



CHAPTER XI 

now THEY SURPRISED THE GOVERNOR OF GUAM 

THE third terrace in tlie three great up- 
ward steps from Siboney to Santiago was 
wun, and the tired heroes of the regular and vol- 
unteer armv of the United States, fighting 
through the night of July first to hold back the 
baffled and defeated Spaniards, rested a moment 
to "get their wind," as Colonel Roosevelt puts 
it, for the final assault upon the beleaguered 
town. As they rest thus in dog-tent and wicky- 
up, or under the canojn' of the changeful Cuban 
skies, we will turn for a moment to those parallel 
happenings which, in mid-Pacific and on the far- 
off Asiatic coast, were inevitably pushing the 
United States into the still unsettled problem of 
world-ruling. P^or the great republic seemed irre- 
si>tibly forced to become a world-power in spite 
of itself. 

When the news of I^ewey's wonderful May- 
day achievement in Manila Bay was Hashed 

2Ui 



202 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

under the ocean and across the continent from 
Honsf Kono- to \VashinQ;ton, at once the sfovern- 
ment hastened to despatch to the Phihppines 
naval and mihtary aid. Dewey was made a rear- 
admiral, and, on the eleventh of May General 
Wesley Merritt, a soldier of tried experience and 
ability, was ordered to Asiatic waters as governor- 
general of the Philippines. 

On the twenty-fifth of May the first Manila 
military expedition sailed out from the harbor of 
San Francisco. It comprised the first division of 
the army assigned for duty in the Philippines — 
twenty-five hundred men with a years supplies, 
and a cargo of ammunition and naval stores, 
embarked in three transports ; the troops were 
under the command of General Anderson, and 
were convoyed by the cruiser Charleston, com- 
manded by Captain Glass. 

The day after leaving Honolulu, where the 
expedition touched for ice and coal. Captain 
Glass opened his sealed instructions, according to 
orders, and there, for the first time, read that he 
was to stop on his way to Manila and capture 
the Spanish island of Guam. 

The orders were " wigwagged " by signal to the 
troops on the transports, and at once officers and 



Malabrigos 
Is. 



■_; Ladrone or 
.Marianne Is. 
iCuam 

Caroline 



L si a- a d s 



trb'pTc 



. Lamira 



' Wakt 1. 

'St.Bartolomco 



otaHaiei" 



n 



Maumllo I. 



Honplulif"v 

Hawaii orl , 
Owhyhee 
Johnston L 



.f'fMarshallls 



Mortloclcis: 



CUbcrt Is.- 



/ 



Pilmyn T. 



I>'^lj|WJ'h Salomon 
L.York "Lo'uisiaa* L' 



F / C 

Equator 




ElUcels:: 



Santa Ctua b. 
New ^°a 
Hebrides «>° 



Fiji or 
Feeje Is. 

-Balide-vi^'-^S's^ 

New vV» Loyally ii. * 



Caledoo: 



Sandy C.l "T^P'^' 

'Mjiyboiough n P F 



BRlSBANC 
^N E W 

w A L Is JPo""' Macquarie 

/SrOhCY 



. Norfolk I. 



\ o^^uncrslOD 
• \ *»*OB*«T TOWN 



North C 



Phoenix 
■ Is.- • 



^^ ."Union Ptniliyn 
r_ '.Croup 
Samoa or • -• 
Navigators Is. . 



Eastern ^ , , 

Cou p • Friendly Cook Is. 



< i. Islands 



of topficbrii 

A N 

Kermadec Is. 



Ml. Cook 





JJQHTH I. 



NEW/ yzEALAMD 

J oChathaml. 

MIDDLE OR 
SOITTH I 



Stjewart 1 
Soulh.C. 

Auckland 1. 

/ CampVU 1. 
Matqusrle T. 



■Hounty r. 

I 

ADtipodn 1. 



20 



I ao 



WHERE GUA.M IS. 
(Map showing position of Ladrone Islands in Pacific Ocean.) 



THK GOVERNOR OF GUAM 205 

men asked one another, " Where under tlie sun Is 
Guam ? " Scarcely one of all those twenty-five 
hundred men knew there was such a place. Do 
you ? 

Open your atlas at the map of Oceanica — 
that vast archipelago of Pacific islands lying be- 
tween Asia and America. In that section of 
Oceanica known as Micronesia, west from Hawaii 
and east of Hong Kong, you will see a little group 
of islands labelled Mariana or Ladrone islands. 
There are fifteen islands in the group, and, of the 
fifteen, the largest and most southerly is Guahan 
or Guam. 

When in the spring of 1521 that great naviga- 
tor, Ferdinand Magellan, was cruising around the 
globe, he took the Ladrones on his wav to the 
rhili})pines — as other navigators and conquerors 
have done since his day. He, too, landed on 
Guam and, because of the odd-lookinir sails on 

O 

the odd-looking crafts of the inlanders, he called 
them the " Islands of the Lateen Sails." But his 
sailors had certain experiences with the natives 
that gave them so poor an opinion of the place 
that forthwith they christened the group " Islas 
de las Ladrones" — the Islands of the Thieves. 
Later, when Spain had been misruling the 



2o6 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

islands for a hundred and forty years, the group 
was oriven the hioher-toned name of Maria Anna, 
wife of the king of Spain then on the throne, and 
they were known to Spain as the ^Mariana Islands. 
But first names " stick," you know, and this group 
of Pacific islands, halfway between Honolulu and 
Hong Kong, are still best known by the nick- 
name Mao-ellan's sailors grave them — the Ladrone 
Islands, or Islands of the Thieves. 

For nearly three hundred years Spain has 
held these fertile, lazy-life Pacific islands, using 
them in the usual Spanish way, crushing out all 
independence and enterprise, until with all their 
productive possibilities they became an expense 
rather than an income to Spain. So, as they hap- 
pened to be a convenient midway station, and as 
Spain's methods and possession were equally in 
disfavor in the United States, Captain Glass's 
orders were to possess himself of the Ladrone 
Islands in behalf of the United States, and to 
make its Spanish officials and soldiers prisoners 
of war. 

This he proceeded to do at once, and on the 
morning of Monday, the twentieth of June, the 
cruiser and the three transports rounded Apepas 
Island and the palisade-like cliffs of Point Orote, 



THK C.OVKRNOK OF (il AM 207 

and sailed into the bay of San Luis d'Apra, tlie cliief 
harbor of tlie island of (jiiani. A few miles up 
the coast was Agana, the capital. The abandoned 
fort at the iK)int offered neither welcome nor oppo- 
sition, and the bombardment of Fort Santa Cruz 
farther in shore brought no response from the 
silent Spanish guns. 

Soon, however, the boats of the captain of the 
port and of the health ofificer, each flying the 
Spanish flag, pulled off to the fleet and boarded 
the cruiser. With them came an interpreter, 
a young Spanish-American, Barcelona-born, but 
made American by residence and naturalization 
in Chicago. 

But Captain Glass of the Charleston needed 
no interpreter. He could talk to the Dons in 
the Dons' own tongue. 

" Your pardon, Captain," said the captain of the 
port, "but if we might borrow the powder, we 
would gladly return your salute. Pray, Senor Cap- 
tain, do not think us discourteous with our silent 
frun, but so few tieets honor us that we are not 
accustomed to receive salutes, and have no pow- 
der, if we would. We trust your health and the 
health of the fleet are good, and we beg to assure 
you, Senor Captain, that if we niay but borrow 



208 



OUR WAR NVIl'H SPAIN 



the powder for the two old guns ashore at the 
port, it will honor us to be permitted to return 
your salute." 

" Salute ! " exclaimed Captain Glass, " I fired 
no salute. Do you not know, sir, the difference 




"the silent gun." 

("Salute, sir! I fired no salute," said Captain Glass.) 

between a salute and shotted guns ? Understand 
me, sir: the United States is at war with Spain; 
my salute, as you call it, was a bombardment ; and 
you, gentlemen, must consider 3'ourselves prisoners 
of war." 

It was a very surprised and agitated brace of 
Spanish officials that heard this astounding in- 



THE GOVERNOR OF Cil'AM 209 

formation on the deck of tlic Charleston. For it 
}3r()\ccl to be a fact that, so dihitory are the actions 
of Spain, the officials and garrison at Guam liad 
not yet been notitied of the outbreak of hostihties 
nor the existence of war. 

So Captain Glass let them off on parole for 
the day, with the understanding that they were 
to notify the governor of Guam at his capital of 
Agana that an Aiiierican fleet was in the harbor 
and tliat the captain would be pleased to see the 
governor at once. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Don Jose Marina de Vega, 
governor of Guam, was as much surprised as his 
subordinates ; but Spanish official etiquette never 
yields to surprise. 

That very evening came Captain Duarte, the 
secretary of the governor, to Captain Glass on 
the Charlcstoji. He bore the "thousand welcomes" 
of his Excellency the governor of Guam to the 
" \aliant American captain," but had the honor to 
inform him that the military law of Spain would 
not permit the governor of Guam to set foot on 
a foreign >hip of war. " Would the honorable and 
valiant American captain do his Excellencv the 
honor of waiting upon him in person in the 



mornnic: r 



210 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Now Captain Glass was in haste to be on the 
way to Manila, and America never permits punc- 
tilious etiquette to interfere with business. 

" All right, sir," Captain Glass said to the secre- 
tary. " Tell the governor I'll see him in the 
morning, or send some one to see him." 

When morning came, the captain decided to 
meet etiquette with etiquette. If the governor of 
Guam stood on ceremony, so would the captain 
of the Charleston. So he sent ashore as his repre- 
sentative the chief navigator of the Charleston, 
with an ensign and four men. 

The euns of the Charleston covered the visitors, 
and commanded the landing at the port. 

His Excellency the governor of Guam stood 
in state at the landing-place in the little village 
of Piti, with his secretary, the captain of the port, 
and the health officer, as reception committee. 
The chief navigator of the Charleston presented 
the communication from Captain Glass, which was, 
in effect, a summons to surrender unconditionally 
within thirty minutes, and significantly pointed to 
the fleet as the best reason for an affirmative 
answer. 

" And, sir," added the chief navigator, " I call 
your attention to these facts in order that you 



THK (;()Vi;rn()R oi' ciam 



211 



nia}- not make any hasty or ill-conditioned reply 
to the note of niv commandant."' 

The Spaniards themselves have a proverb: 
"There is no making a good cloak of bad cloth." 
llis Excellencv the oovernor of Guam had struck 




THE U.S. CRUISER CHARLESTON. 

(Which convoyed the transports to Manila and, with its salute tliat was no 
salute, surprised the governor of Guam.) 

a mightv bad piece of cloth for a S])anish cloak. 
Hut all Spaniards are philosophical, so he con- 
cluded to make a virtue of necessity, and not re- 
turn an "ill-conditioned reply." He was moved 
to this conclusion all the stroncjer as, looking down 



212 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

the harbor, he saw the steam launch of the Charles- 
ton towing a string of boats filled with marines 
and soldiers from the fleet. 

Twenty-nine minutes of the thirty passed. Then 
his Excellency the governor of Guam came from 
his office with a letter. 

" It is my reply to your commandant, Seiior 
Lieutenant," he said. 

" I represent him, sir," replied the chief naviga- 
tor, putting up the watch on which he had been 
checking off the thirty minutes, and breaking the 
seal of the letter. 

It was the "unconditional surrender" demanded. 

" In the absence of any notification from my 
o-overnment concerningr the relations of war be- 
tween the United States and Spain," said the gov- 
ernor in his letter, " and without any means of 
defence or the possibility of defence in the face 
of such a large opposing force, I feel compelled, 
in the interests of humanity and to save life, to 
make a complete surrender of all under my juris- 
diction." 

Thus was Guam captured. The governor and 
his associates, the officers and men of his " regular 
army," sixty in all, were sent aboard the fleet as 
prisoners of war; the stars and stripes rose over 



THE GOVERNOR OF GUAM 213 

Fort Santa Cruz, the guns boomed a salute, the 
bands played, the soldiers and sailors cheered, and 
the Ladrone Islands became an .American posses- 
sion by lawful conquest, while the young Spanish- 
American who had offered his services as inter- 
preter was named by Captain Glass governor-gen- 
eral of Guam. 

His Excellencv Don Marina de Veira, late sfov- 
ernor of Guam, did not recover from his surprise 
until he was well on his w^ay to Manila, a prisoner 
of war. For then he knew that the fieet had 
come, not to capture Guam, but to reenforce 
Manila. When he reached that far-off Philippine 
port his surprise was renewed. For there, before 
the old walled capital of Spain's Asiatic colonies, 
floated a victorious American fleet of warships. 
In and about the harbor lay the charred remains 
of the splendid Spanish fleet upon which every 
Spanish official in Asiatic waters had depended 
for security and defence against the enemies of 
Spain. Above the Spanish arsenal at Cavite 
floated the stars and stripes, while the embattled 
rock of Corregidor, which frowns above the en- 
trance to Manila Harbor, no longer displayed the 
golden standard of Spain. It is no wonder that 
his Excellency the e.\-governor of Guam, who had 



214 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 










IN PHILIPPINE WATERS. 
{Olyinpia and Raleigh off the coast of Luzon.) 

laid his head upon the table and wept in chagrin 
and despair when forced to surrender his little 
Ladrone archipelago, — specks only on the map of 
the Pacific, — should have felt even more bitterly 
the sting of defeat as he glanced on the dismantled 
outworks of Manila, the blockading Yankee fleet 
swinging across the beautiful bay, and the van- 
guard of the Yankee army of possession, whose 
prisoner of war he was, coming to the conquest 
and occupation of the great and rich island group 
which his forefathers, hundreds of years before, 
had seized and held for Spain. 

Humanity alone held back the Yankee invaders 



THE GOVERNOR OF GUAM 215 

of those far-off islands from complctiiif^ the work 
begun by Dewey on the first of May. It would 
have been better had it been thus settled at once. 
For about the city of Manila swarmed the rebel- 
lious F"ilipinos, rearoused to revolt against the 
S])aniards by the coming of the Americans and 
the victory over the Spanish fieet. One after an- 
other, the military expeditions sailed across the sea 
from America, until, at last, there were in Philip- 
]Dine waters and before the walls of Manila, besides 
the reenforced fleet of battleships, sixteen thousand 
American soldiers, both regulars and volunteers. 

Other nations would have completed the business 
at once. But to Americans the insurgent Filipinos 
seemed men fighting for independence, and toward 
all such, half-civilized thou2"h thev were, the senti- 
ment of brotherhood went out from all America, 
even though those in authority doubted how far 
it was safe to trust the proffered alliance of these 
island rebels. 

Hut Dewey had not sailed to Manila to join 
hands with the Filipinos; Merritt and his men 
had not gone over the sea to back up Aguinaldo's 
shadowy claims. They were in Manila Bay to 
break the power of Spain, and to guard the inter- 
ests which, by victory, had become American. 



2i6 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

" Only reluctance to cause needless loss of life 
and property," says President McKinley, " prevented 
the early storming and capture of the city, and 
therewith the absolute military occupancy of the 
whole group. The insurgents, meanwhile, had re- 
sumed the active hostilities suspended by the 
uncompleted truce of December, 1897. Their 
forces invested Manila from the northern and 
eastern sides, but were constrained by Admiral 
Dewey and General Merritt from attempting an 
assault. It was fitting that whatever was to be 
done in the way of decisive operations in that 
c{uarter should be accomplished by the strong 
arm of the United States alone. Obeying the 
stern precept of war which enjoins the overcom- 
ing of the adversary and the extinction of his 
power wherever assailable as the speedy, and sure 
means to win a peace, divided victory was not 
permissible, for no partition of the rights and 
responsibilities attending the enforcement of a 
just and advantageous peace could be thought of." 

" A partition of rights and responsibilities," 
if such division were to come about, seemed de- 
sired by other than the rebel Filipinos. Scarcely 
had the smoke of Dewey's May-day guns blown 
away when, from every quarter, came the swift- 



THE GOVERNOR OF GUAM 217 

sailing warships of luimpcan and foreign powers, 
ostensibly tu protect national interests, but really 
to watch Dewey and each other as well. 

France and Germany, England and Japan, sent 
their cruisers into Manila Bay — the first two in 
a critical, the last two in a friendly, spirit. It 
seemed unfortunate that Germany, especially — a 
nation whose interests in so many ways run side 
by side with those of America, whose blood courses 
in so many American \-eins, who have equal share 
with England and America in what the Emperor 
of Germany so rightly calls " the deeds of our great 
common race," and whose friendly hand-clasj) has 
even been desired and welcomed by the great re- 
public, should have, through her naval representa- 
tive, ranged herself in apparent though unofficial 
hostilitv ao-ainst America's i^ower in Manila Hav. 

But America's power in Manila Bay was in- 
trusted to one who would countenance no foreign 
interference in support of Spain's ruined power 
nor in the instigation of unacknowledged insur- 
ofcnt resistance. So when by one and another 
significant act the German warships sought to 
invade the riiihts and interfere with the duties of 
the victorious Americans, as recognized by the 
rules of war. Admiral Dewey — for he was rear- 



2i8 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

admiral now, and the blue pennant with the two 
stars streamed from the Olympias mainmast — 
bided his time. 

He said little, for the admiral was a man of 
few words, as are all doers of great deeds. Only 
once in his dry way did he observe to the Ger- 
man flag-lieutenant: "One might almost think your 
ships were blockading Manila, and not mine." 

But when at last one of the German cruisers 

— there were six of them at Manila by this time 

— began to lay down the law to the Filipinos, 
and another one tried to run the American 
blockade and, with all lights out, creep up to an 
anchorage nearer to Manila, while yet another, 
violating neutrality, landed provisions at Manila, 
Admiral Dewey felt that the climax had been 
reached. 

He summoned his flag-lieutenant. 

" Mr. Brumby," he said, in the calm, even tone 
that was a part of the Dewey firmness of char- 
acter, " I wish you to take the barge and go over 
to the German flagship. Giv^e Admiral von Die- 
derich my compliments, and say that I wish to 
call his attention to the fact that the vessels of 
his squadron have shown an extraordinary dis- 
regard of the usual courtesies of naval intercourse, 



Tin: r.ovKRNOR of guam 219 

and tliat, finally, one of tluni has committed a 
trross breach of ncutralilN' in landinir nruxi.^ions 
in Manila, a })ort which I am blockading." 

" Ay, ay, sir," responded the tlag-lieutenant, glad 
of this opportunity to speak the admiral's mind 
and voice the indignation of the tieet. 

The admiral paused as the flag-lieutenant saluted 
and turned to go. Then, as if it were an after- 
thought, when it was in fact the postscript to the 
official communication — a j)()stscnpt iii which was 
centred all the indignation, determination, and 
pluck of the aroused admiral, Dewey called after 
his departing flag-lieutenant in a voice louder 
and more emphatic than was his wont: — 

" And, Brumby," he said, in words that all the 
nation applauded when the "postscript" was re- 
})orted across the sea, "you may tell Admiral von 
Diederich that if he wants a fight, he can have 
it right now," 

Admiral von Diederich, of course, "declined the 
honor"; he had no desire or authority to risk 
conclusions with the American fleet. He hastened 
to assure Admiral Dewey that he was not aware 
of the misdoings of his captains and that they 
"should not occur aoain." 

They did not. Ihe firm >tand of our victorious 



220 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

admiral which could overawe troublesome Ulipinos 
and hold the Spaniards in check had its influence 
also upon the arrogance of German naval author- 
ity, and sternly repressed what Germany now^ de- 
scribes as " Admiral von Diederich s grave want 
of tact"; so there was never any need for Admiral 
Dewey to repeat his message to the chief of the 
German fleet. 

Thus, in two hemispheres, American affairs drew 
on toward a climax. For w^hile Admiral Dewey 
" held the whip handle " before the walls of Manila, 
and the detachments of American soldiers, one 
after another, arrived on the big transports from 
over sea to back up his authority; while Spain, in 
desperation, gathered together her last fleet of 
warships to send them eastward through the Suez 
Canal to Dewey's destruction, and Commodore 
Watson, a veteran of the American navy, was 
ordered to collect a fleet of warships for a pos- 
sible descent on the coast of Spain, the gallant 
Fifth Army Corps, victorious in Cuba, occupied 
the conquered trenches of El Caney and San Juan, 
and drawing its cordon closer about the beleaguered 
city prepared for its final descent in assault from 
its dog-tents and its wicky-ups spread over the in- 
trenched hills that looked down upon Santiago. 



CHAPTER XII 



HOW THE SPANISH ADMIRAL MADE A DASH FOR 

LIBERTY 




U 



PON the liills look- 
__ ing clown on Santi- 

J^F^^W ago lay the advance of the 

^•^ ^m American armv. A victory, 

'^ dearly bought at the cost 

of sixteen hundred dead and 
wounded men, had gixcn 
that army the complete in- 
vestment of Santiao'o on the 
north and east, while about 
their trenches and within 
the beleao-uered tow n tliou- 
sands of Spaniards lay dead or wounded, victims 
of their own brave persistency. 

Hut though the heights were won and Santiago 
was before them, the position of the victors was 
most precarious. Lying in an exposed position, 
within range and ritie-shot of Spanish outposts 

221 



ADMIRAL SCIILF-V. 



222 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



and defences, with a strongly intrenched and val- 
iant foe before them and reenforcements for the 
Spaniards nearing the town, with a lamentable lack 
of field artillery and no siege-guns at hand, with 
their ammunition low^ and their base of supplies 
far in the rear, with few intrenching-tools and no 




TRENCH-MAKING BEFORE SANTIAGO. 

(Soldiers digging trenches with plates and knives.) 

trenches dug that would shield them from Spanish 
attack, — which by daylight might be terrible in 
its intensity and fatal in its effects, — soaked with 
the heavy rains and hungry from lack of food, it 
would not be strange if the first flush of triumph 
should fade into the gloom of doubt and that the 
officers, responsible for the safety and lives of their 
men, should question the wisdom of retaining the 



A DASH FOR I.ir.KRTV 223 

advanced })o.sitiun on the heii^hls, and sliould even 
ur"c UDon tlic comniandinLi- <'encral a withdrawal 
to a safer position back of the heights and nearer 
tlieir base of supplies. 

There was fjood reason for this from a niilitar\' 
point of view; for the responsibility of the ad- 
vanced position was great, and, as General Shaf- 
ter says, "the man who can carry lightl\- his re- 
sponsibility for the lives of thousands of men is 
not fit to command ; " but neither officers nor men 
— not even those most in danger or those ex- 
posed to a possibly destructive Spanish fire — had 
the wish to see a backward movement that the 
world would call a retreat. 

Intrenching on the hill as best they could with 
their scant suj^ply of Uh)]>, threatened again and 
again with Spanish sortie and attack, the Ameri- 
can advance on the heights pluckily held their 
own; the decision to withdraw was not taken; in- 
stead, General Shafter determined to remaiii where 
he was and push the siege willi \igor. So as a 
bold move toward the end, he decided that on the 
morninfr of Sundav, the third of [ulv. he would 
demand the unconditional surrender of the city of 
Santiago and the Spanish army defending it. 

But on the morning of Sunday, the third of 



224 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

July, 1898, another factor entered into the war- 
filled chapter of Santiago's story that few men 
anticipated, though all men deemed it possible. 

Steadily' about the beleaguered city drew the 
American army ; stretched in a merciless cordon 
about the entrance to the narrow-necked harbor 




CAMP OF THE AMERICAN ADVANXE. 
("The American advance on the heights pluckily held their own.") 

floated the ships of the American blockaders ; 
the army and navy of Spain at Santiago alike 
were doomed unless some desperate sortie suc- 
ceeded on the land, or a mad dash for liberty 
freed the Spanish ships. 

To Admiral Cervera, commanding the fine 
Spanish fleet of cruisers and destroyers at San- 



A DASH FOR i.ii;i;riv 225 

tiairo, there came orders from Madrid and 1 lavana 
to break awav from Santia<r(>. nni tlie American 
blockade, and at all risks carry his squadron to 
the assistance of Havana or the safety of some 
non-blockaded port. 

Admiral Cervera knew better tlian his superiors 
the follv of such an order; but a sailor's first duty 
is, like a soldier's, to obey orders, and he proceeded 
to make ready for his dash to lil)erty or death. 

The guns of the fleet which had been sent on 
shore to aid the besieged city were reshipped ; 
the sailors who were helping in the defence of 
tile town were recalled, and tlie ([uiet of a Sun- 
day morning was selected for the desperate at- 
tempt, because, on Sunday morning, the ships of 
every navy are occupied with the details of dress 
rexiew, inspection, and church services, and the 
thoughts of officers and crews are not fixed on 
fiLrhtino-. 

But the discipline on the ships of Admiral 
Sampson's fleet was like clockwork in its regu- 
larity and precision. There are warshij)s on 
which, though every man is drilled to his duty 
and knows his place, those are precisely the 
things he forgets or blunders over when the criti- 
cal moment of test arrives. But it was not so 



226 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

in Admiral Sampson's squadron. Five weeks of 
watchful blockading had made every man " letter- 
perfect " in his part, and the thing they remem- 
bered best was the admirals simple but explicit 
order : " If the enemy tries to escape, the ships 
must close and engage as soon as possible, and 
endeavor to sink his vessels or force them to run 
ashore." 

As the sun sprang above the horizon with 
true tropical velocity and dispelled the low-hang- 
ing curtain of mist on that warm Sunday morn- 
ing of July 3, it showed the warships riding at 
their several stations in a broken half-circle in 
front of Santiao'o harbor. There rode in the cen- 

O 

tre, lookino- straioht into the narrow entrance, 
the Iowa of Captain Evans ; east of her lay the 
famous Oregon of Captain Clark and the Imiiaiia 
of Captain Taylor; west of Captain Evans were 
the Texas of Captain Philip and the Brooklyn of 
Captain Cook, flying the pennant of Commodore 
Schley, second in command of the fleet. On the 
horns of the half-circle' and closer inshore rode 
the two little auxiliaries, orunboats made over 
from yachts, the Vixen on the western end, com- 
manded by Lieutenant Sharp, and, at the eastern 
end, the Gloucester in charge of the same Lieu- 



A DASH i()K i,ii;i:ri'\' 



227 



tcnaiU-coniniandcr \\'ain\vri<'lu who liad l)cen (.w- 
ccutivc officer of the Maine that fatal I'Y'bruary 
ni<'"hl in I la\ana liarhor. 

Scarcely was the sun well u]) when the other 
vessels of the blockading squadron were steam- 
iuLT ott on \-arious errands. 




■JlIK INNKR lIARIiOR OK SANTIA(;(). 



" Disregard movements of the commander-in- 
chief," read the admiral's si";nal from the masthead 
of the flagship New York, as, accompanied by the 
torpedo boat Ericsson, she sailed U) the eastward 
for a conference at Siboney between the admiral 
and (ieneral Shafter as to the conduct of a joint 
campaign. 

" If I leave I'm sure something will happen," 



228 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

the admiral had said, dreading to leave his post 
at a critical time. But the conference was a 
necessity; and even though, so long as the senior 
officer was not actually out of signal distance, the 
real responsibility of command was not shifted, 
still he knew that he had left a vigilant second 
in charge in the person of Commodore Schley. 

So off to Siboney the admiral sailed early that 
Sunday morning, while the cruiser Massachusetts 
with the destroyers Suwanee and Vesuvius had 
also withdrawn from the squadron and gone to 
Guantanamo for coal. 

The sun rose higher; the warm July morning 
grew hotter; the awnings were spread on the 
warships, and the crew in their " Sunday-go-to- 
meeting rig" were piped to "general muster"; 
over the water, from the Texas, came the bugle- 
call to church, and the bells of the fleet chimed 
musically in. It was a quiet, restful summer Sun- 
day morning at sea ; but, nevertheless, the watchers 
and lookouts were all at their proper posts, dis- 
cipline was not relaxed, and on more than one 
warship the signal of danger was strung ready to 
be " broken out " at the first sign of hostile action. 

Inspection had already begun on the loiva 
when, from the bridge, came a shout. 



A DASH FOR Lir.icRrv 229 

" Tlic fleet's coniin*'- out!" raivj- tlie \varnin<j^. 

Vp ilew the ready signal to stream out from 
the /(f7>.'(f's yard : " Tlie enemy is escaping to the 
westward!" while from the lowas forward bridge 
the six-pounder boomed its noisy warning. 

On the other ships, also, vigilant eyes had 
sighted danircr. The navigator on the forward 
bridge of the Brooklyn dropped the long glass 
throu-'l-i wliich he had descried a mo\ing column 
of smoke behind the harbor hill, and caught up 
the megaphone. 

"After-bridge, there!" he shouted; "report to 
the commodore and the captain that the enemy's 
ships are coming out ! " 

It was half-past nine on Sunday morning; just 
the time when the "folks at home" were thinking 
of getting ready for church. Signals flew ; men scat- 
tered to their stations; officers took their posts, and 
all the ships and auxiliaries " cleared for action." 

As the signals fluttered out, the fleet was head- 
iuLi' inshore, according to the admiral's instruc- 
tions, so as to be able to lose no time in turning 
if the enemy should run out. For the admiral 
had everv i)oint in sea-stratei>;v and sea-action at 
his fnirers' ends. And the signals told the truth. 
The enemy's fleet was indeed coming out. 



230 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Nerved to his desperate duty, Admiral Cervera 
had selected the time when the blockading squad- 
ron had been weakened by the withdrawal of five 
of its vessels — two cruisers and three smaller 
boats ; he had selected church time on Sunday 
morning, when he imagined the Yankee tars 
would be least prepared for fighting; he had 
his guns all ready and his decks cleared for 
action ; he had arranged with the forts and shore 
batteries to support his movements with a terrific 
fire, and he had directed his gunners to concen- 
trate their fire upon the B^'ooklyn, so as to 
cripple or destroy her, as she was the fastest 
sailer in the American fleet. 

Then, creeping down the channel, past the 
sunken Merriinac just showing her smoke-stack 
above the water, past th-e batteries that were 
ready to help in the escape, the Spanish squadron 
steamed toward the sea, the admiral's flagship 
leading. Six hundred yards apart, came the four 
big and beautiful cruisers of the Spanish fleet ; 
twelve hundred yards behind the cruisers the two 
torpedo boats brought up the rear. Her oppos- 
ing forces were seven to six — one in favor of 
the Americans; but the Spanish fleet had three 
armored cruisers where the Americans had but 



A DASH FOR LIBERTY 



231 



one, and 111)011 tliat one they were directed to 
concentrate tluir lire. 

Now "that one" was the armored (Muiser Brook- 
lyn, the responsible leader of the depleted fleet, 
and on its c[uarterdeck was Winfield Scott Schley, 
commodore and senior officer in that famous fi<'ht. 




WHERE CERVERA HAN OUT. 

(Entrance to Santiago harbor. Morro on the height to the right. The Spanish 
fleet came out to the left of Morro and turned to the west — the left.) 

Down the channel, one by one, the Si)ani.s]i 
war>hips steamed, around the western point they 
swum;, and then, with their boilers worked to the 
highest, open draught and all steam on, with their 
])ort guns tlumderiiiL;- defiance and every availa- 
ble shore battery cannonading in support, the 
Maria Teresa and the Vizcaya, the Colon and 



232 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

the Oquendo, four as fine cruisers as were afloat, 
with the deadly torpedo boats Furor and Pinion 
bringing up the rear, sprang out of Santiago 
harbor and headed for the westward in one mad 
dash for Hberty. It was as brave and bold, as 
desperate and defiant, a forlorn hope as may be 
found in all the long story of Spain upon the 
seas, since first Hamilcar, grandfather of the great 
Hannibal, with Carthaginians and Spaniards laid 
his mighty fleet upon the Sicilian coast. And 
even like Hamilcar did Cervera come to grief. 

There was no delay on the part of the Ameri- 
can squadron in answering the Spaniards' chal- 
lenge, and darting to head off the foe. Even as 
a crowd of alert and watchful boys spring to 
head off their opponents on a break from "goal," 
or when a straining football team leaps to tackle 
or stop its rival eleven in their wild rush down 
the field, so did the American warships fling them- 
selves upon their Spanish foemen. 

" Signal the fleet to clear ship ! " the commo- 
dore commanded. " Have your rapid-fire guns 
ready for those fellows, Captain Cook. Ensign 
McCaulev, siQ:nal the fleet to close in." 

Straight into the mouth of the harbor, forcing 
draughts and increasing speed, the Americans 



A DASH I'OR i,ip.i:ria' 233 

dashed, the coniniodorc 011 the Jh-ooklvii farthest 
to the west. Tlien, as tlie Spaniards turned 
sharply to the westward, tlie Americans turned 
westward as well, and in parallel lines burst into 
chase like hounds upon the trail. 

" The Brooklyn',' said Commodore Schley in 
his report to the admiral, "being thus directl}' 
in the route taken by the Spanish squadron, was 
exposed, possibly for ten minutes, to the gun fire 
of three of the Spanish ships and the west bat- 
tery ; but the vessels of the entire squadron, clos- 
ing in rapidly, soon diverted this fire, and did 
mao-nificent work at close rano^e." 

This "closing in" was done by perfect sea- 
manship as well as perfect marksmanship ; for 
as the other cruisers saw the peril of the Brook- 
lyn thev rushed to her aid, bunch ini'" and closino; 
in once again like trained football players. The 
great Oregon, like " the bulldog of the seas " it 
had been called, rushed "like a thunder-bolt," the 
foam breakini2[ hi<2h before her bows ; straight in be- 
tween the Texas and the loica she dashed, and held 
her fire as she passed the Iowa; but the instant 
she drew ahead she poured her fire u})on the Span- 
ish fleet with so close a calculation that her after- 
guns blazed out across the forecastle of the loiua. 



234 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

" Put your helm hard aport," said Commodore 
Schley, as the Vizcaya left the Spanish line and 
came straight at the Brooklyn. Around came the 
helm and around swung the big cruiser, not away 
from, but toward, the puzzled enemy, her port guns 
belching five-inch, six-inch, and eight-inch projec- 
tiles. Twenty of these in all sent their fatal shot 
plunging into the Vizcaya and the Maria Teresa ; 
then, turning again, the Brooklyn let go her star- 
board battery, completely " rattling " the Spaniards 
who had singled her out for destruction. 

" Tell the men to fire deliberately and make 
every shot tell," said the commodore. And every 
man in all the fieet, from the captain on the 
bridge to the stoker in the furnace-room, did his 
" level best," realizing that he had a share in the 
greatest fight of his life. 

Now to starboard and now to port the helms 
of the warships swung, as, right upon the heels 
of the fleeing Spaniards they sprang in fierce 
assault. Unable to repel or to resist the merci- 
less American fire, their own guns wrongly set 
or served by incfiicient and irresponsible gunners, 
doomed, as they saw, to swift and sure defeat, 
the Spanish captains thought, first, only of escape, 
and then only of how to die without surrender. 



A DASH FOR T.IIU'.RTY 235 

Westward still alont;' the coast they tiew, — tlieir 
•^'uns noisN l)ut liarmless, — the .American warsliijis 
rakiiiL;' tlieni with a terrible and tellinL;' hre of 
shot and shell. One after another they burst into 
Ihmie, now fore and now aft, and, still jnii-sued by 
the relentless Americans, at last, in sheer despera- 
tion, they steered straight inshore to beach and 
burn in wreck. 

Craftiest of all the Spanish fleet, the Colon (or 
Columbus), third in the line, dropped behind the 
other Spanish vessels, and as the chase forged 
ahead drew herself almost out of range, and es- 
caped the first fierce fire of the ^American ships. 
Under her protecting bulk ran the torpedo de- 
stroyers Furor and Pluton ; but the Colon, in 
the vain belief that safety and even escape lay 
in her instant tlight, suddenly spraiig away from 
the destroyers, and with a mighty spurt outdis- 
tanced the American fleet, with a six-mile lead. 

Left to themselves, the destroyers Furor and 
Pluton looked for other cover, and while one 
steamed ahead to shield itself behind one of the 
armored cruisers, the Pinion, under the fire of 
the shore batteries, sought to crawl back into the 
har]:)or. 

But an avenger was on her track. W'ainw right, 



236 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

the last man excepting its commander to leave 
the sinking Maine, was, as you remember, com- 
mander of the Gloucester, the eastern picket of 
the blockading fleet. As the Spaniards left the 
harbor, Wainwright drove the little Glo7icester — 
an unprotected, converted steam pleasure yacht — 
straight at the big Oqjiendo, although upon him 
bore the full fury of the guns of Morro Castle. 
Paying no attention to the fusilade from shore, 
the Gloucester plumped her six-pounders into the 
Oqucndo, who, suspecting herself attacked by a 
torpedo boat, turned her batteries upon the yacht. 
Just then, however, the Glojicester caught sight of 
the low-lying Furor and Plulon, sneaking off for 
shelter and escape, and judging these to be about 
her size, drew off from the now flying Oquendo, 
and devoted herself to the fast-sailing destroyers, 
either one of which " outclassed " her in speed 
and armament, but not, it would seem, in disci- 
pline and marksmanship. 

For an instant the battle raged about and above 
these three small craft. The Oqucndo and the 
Maria Teresa, with the shore batteries, sought at 
first to support the destroyers, while the loiva, the 
Indiana, and the Oregon backed up the plucky 
Gloucester. The fioht was brief but fierce. Over 




WAINWRIGHT ON THE GLOUCESTER. 
(" The Maine is avenged ! " he is reported to have said, sternly and solemnly.) 



A DASM I'OR Lir.KR'IT 239 

the (iloKii-s/ii's deck a <'rcat ^hcll cut tlic air 
and, fatally directed, fell plump in the middle of 
the destroyer Plulou, which, riddled already by 
the Gloucester s six-pounders, sank in an instant — 
even more quickly than the Maine had gone 
down. Then the big ships turned their attention 
upc^n each other, while the Gloucester, darting 
ahead, turned back the Furor from trying to 
shield herself behind the Oquendo, and plunging 
into her a deadly fire at close range, with the 
occasional assistance of the Iiidiaua, drove her in 
shore, where she broke on a reef and sank in the 
breaking surf. 

Whereupon the gallant Wainwright, even though 
he may have said sternly and solemnly as is re- 
ported, " The Maine is avenged!" turned to the 
humane work of rescuing: the men of the wrecked 
destroyers, which, twenty minutes after they had 
left the harbor of Santiago, were broken and 
sunken hulks. 

Even as the Gloucester was finishinc: off the 
Fuj-or, dcnvn the coast and past the plucky little 
fighter, came rushing the flagship A^ei^' York. 
When off Al tares, seven miles to the eastward, 
she had seen the sions of battle. At once she 
came about and running up the quite unnecessary 



240 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

signal, " Close in toward harbor entrance and at- 
tack vessels," sailed in on the heels of the chase. 

Straight across the harbor's mouth, unheeding 
the plunging fire of the shore batteries directed 
full upon her, she raced, scarce noticing the shells 
that exploded above and around her, 

" Let us go on — on, after the enemy," the ad- 
miral exclaimed again and again, and on and on 
the flagship forged ahead. 

As she passed the Gloiicester, she threw some 
shells at the Furor, as a naval " pat on the back " 
for the yacht; but "the Gloucester,''' as Captain 
Chadwick of the Nciv York reported, " proved her- 
self so capable that the ship stood on." 

But as the flagship passed the Gloucester the 
crew of the Neiv York sprang to the forecastle 
deck, and led by their captain cheered the plucky 
little yacht to the echo. Then she dashed on 
to be in at the death. 

The " death " came even before the flagship 
could come up. One after the other the Spanish 
cruisers, swept by flame, ran ashore and dropped 
their flags in surrender. First to succumb, the 
Maria Teresa, at 10.15, beached in the surf six 
miles from the harbor she had cleared ; fifteen 
minutes later the Oqziendo ran ashore, half a mile 



A DASH I'uK LII'.F.RTY 



241 



beyond the Teresa; then the Vizcaya, the admiral's 
flagship, after one last bold dash to ram her chief 
rival, the Brooklyu. was driven ashore fifteen miles 
from Santiago and struck her colors at 1 1.15 ; and 
Wainwright of the Gkmcestc}'-, the survi\or of the 
Maine, by a sort of poetic justice, rescued the 




U.S. CRUISER BROOKLYN. 
(Commodore Schley's flagship, which led the sea-fight of July 3.) 

sinking Spanish admiral Cervera from the wreck 
of his flagship and received his surrender on 
board the deck of the Gloucester. 

No need to question how or by whom this vic- 
tory was won. There was honor enough for all to 
have a share, from admiral to ensign, from engineer 
to stoker. Each had done his part. The noble 
fleet of Spain was cornered, conquered, destroyed. 



242 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

But the fleeing Colon, springing from that hne 
of death in one last fierce dash for life, sped on 
up the coast with the Brooklyn and the Oregon, 
the Texas, the little Vixen, and finally the flag- 
ship New York, in full chase. 

On past the beached and burning cruisers of 
Spain (their drowning crews now being rescued 
by the men who had hammered them in fight) 
the American flagship sped and rounded up the 
chase just as, offshore, fifty miles from Santiago, 
the Colon, last of Cervera's fleet, lowered her flag 
and surrendered to the Brooklyn. 

Then, when Spanish bad faith, after this sur- 
render, would have destroyed and sunk the Colon 
in deep water, the N'eiu York laid her nose against 
the sinking cruiser and actually " bunted " her 
ashore, where she grounded in shoal water. 

Six hundred men killed, two thousand taken 
prisoners, four cruisers and two torpedo-boat 
destroyers driven ashore in wreck and surrender, 
— twelve million dollars' worth of naval property 
and Spain's only serviceable fleet wiped out at 
one blow, — that was the record of Spanish dis- 
aster ! And the American record ? One man 
killed and three wounded on the cruiser Brooklyn, 
which was struck twenty times by comparatively 



A DASH FOR i.ir.iiR'rv 243 

harmless projectiles, two slight "strikes" of 110 
iin})ortance against the Iowa, and that was all! 
C)iit of that terrible Spanish fire our fleet rode 
unharmed; in the midst of that destructive Ameri- 
can fire the fleet of Spain went down in wreck 
and ruin. Do you wonder that men called it 
miraculous ? Do you wonder that good Captain 
Philip of the Texas, impressed by the magnitude 
of the \ictory and the absolute freedom from 
injury, piped his crew to prayers even before 
the smoke of victory had died away, and stand- 
ing amc^ng them with bared head, said solemnly: 
" Men, I want to make public acknowledgment 
here that I believe in (iocl the I'^ather. I want 
you all to lift your hats and, from your hearts, 
offer silent thanks to the Almighty." 

And yet the miracle, under God's grace, was 
of man's own making-. For it was the victorv of 
right over injustice, of discipline over demoraliza- 
tion, of confidence over insecurity, of perfect 
training over inefficiency, of careful marksmanship 
over unskilful gunnery, of the men behind the 
guns over the men afraid of their o-uns. 

"The race is not always to the swift nor the 
battle to the strong." But when the swift races 
with brain alert, and the strons: fiirhts with the 



244 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

strength of discipline, any other result than victory 
would indeed be a miracle. 

That was why the fleet of Admiral Sampson, 
sailed according to his orders and led by Commo- 
dore Schley, smashed Cervera's fleet in its bold 
dash for liberty and achieved the wonderful vic- 
tory of Sunday, July 3. As Admiral Sampson 
himself says of it : — 

" The fleets that were opposed to each other 
on that Sunday morning were, as regards the 
numbers of the ships, about six to seven. Leaving 
out the torpedo destroyers and the Gloucester, 
which may be said not to have been fighting 
ships," — although we know how they did fight, — 
" the proportion was six to four. The fleet of 
the Spaniards were four beautiful ships. I think 
I am stating the case within bounds when I say 
that, barring their condition at that time, — which, 
of course, we did not all know, — they were, in 
many respects, all our imaginations had led us to 
suppose. We outnumbered them about three to 
one, but this is only another illustration of the fact 
that it is necessary to have a superior force to 
make sure of victory in any case." 



CHAPTER XIII 

WHY THEY CHEERED IN THE TRENCHES 

E\"EN had Admiral Sampson not seen the 
smoke and hoard the sounds of conflict lliat 
sent him so swiftly to the right about on that 
famous Sunday morning in July, he would have 
found when he rode over the hills from Siboney 
to confer with General Shafter that the general 
had already taken the bull by the horns. 

F'or that very Sunday morning, just as the 
Spanish fleet was steaming down the channel to 
escape or death, General Shafter, at half-past 
eight o'clock, sent this summons to General 
Toral, the Spanish commander in Santiago: — 

" I have the honor to inform you that, unless 
you surrender, I shall be obliged to shell Santiago 
de Cuba. Please instruct the citizens of all foreign 
countries, and all women and children, that they 
should leave the city before lo a.m. to-morrow." 

Even while considering the question of with- 
drawal to a point nearer his base of supplies, the 

245 



Lii 



246 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



general was making ready to push the siege of 
Santiago. But even as the flag of truce bore this 
demand for surrender, there crept somehow into 
the trenches where the boys waited for orders the 
report that Admiral Cervera and his fleet had 




BAMBOO BRIDGE OVER THE SAN JUAN RIVER. 
(On the road to Santiago.) 

escaped from Santiago harbor. It was depressing, 
but the boys said never a word. 

Then at noon came the real news, joyfully sent 
from headquarters with the order : " Rush this 
information all around our lines at the front." 
And as it was rushed the boys all along the line, 
even to the trenches on the hills, went wild over 
the good news, for they knew, as did all the world, 



WHY THFA' CHEERED IN THE TRENCHES 247 

that tlic (lcstructi(in (>f Sjxiin's last availal^lc licet 
finished the business in Cuba and nuist end the 
war. There was a regimental band, even at the 
front, and it played " The Star-Spangled Hanner," 
and " rherell be a Hot Time in the Old Town 
To-night," until the puffed-out cheeks of the hungry 
musicians almost burst, from their energy, while 
the boys, careless of the insecurity of their trenches, 
leaped up and down with joy and cheered imtil 
they were hoarse, and all, "officers and men," said 
General Shafter, " though even without shelter 
tents and soaked for five days in the afternoon 
rains, all are happy." 

But if the boys in the trenches, knowing that 
Cervera's overthrow would end the war, felt that 
it would end it at once, they did not know the 
methods of diplomatic "giving-in "nor the inbred 
"putting-off ways" of Spain. 

At first, in reply to General Shafter's demand, 
the Spanish commander replied, " It is my duty 
to say to you that this city will not surrender;" 
then General Shafter, at the request of the foreign 
consuls in Santiago, and out of reu:ard for the 
women and children, put off the threatened bom- 
bardment until July 5; then it was put off to send 
in the wounded Spanish officers ; then to arrange 



248 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



for the exchange of the brave Hobson of the Mer- 
rimac, a prisoner in Santiago with his plucky crew; 
then to lend the Spanish general some of our own 
telegraph operators to communicate with Madrid; 
then to receive a proposition for evacuation ; and so 
on, " backing and filling " and requesting and yield- 
ing (all in the interests of humanity), now breaking 
off the truce on the tenth of July, and on the 
eleventh putting it on again, while all the time the 




IN THE TRENCHES. 
(" One shovel to a regiment.") 



American soldiers lay in the trenches they had 
made when there was just "one shovel to a regi- 
ment," as one of the boys said ; while fever crept 
into their systems and the calls for quinine grew 



win- THFV rilFFRED TX TTTE TRENCHES 249 

mure and more frequent; while the trenches broke 
clown or washed apart under the heavy tropical 
rains, and beef and pork and hardtack even lost 
the taste they never had, and the tempting qualities 
that are only on the label, and while, all the time, 
the boys, anxious to close things up, chafed under 
delay and agreed with the impatient cowboy soldier 
who exclaimed, "Well! now we've got those Mexi- 
cans corralled, why don't we go in and brand 



em ? 



Ignorant, too, of the meaniuL-- of all this "backing 
and filling," and all the flags of truce and exten- 
sions of armistice, the soldier boys, with true 
American restlessness, disapproved of all this 
"chassezing" and "issuing extras," as they called 
the frequent conferences. They talked it over as 
American soldiers will, until one of the regulars, 
perplexed o\er the armistices and the delay, ex- 
pressed himself to Mr. Davis, according to that 
enterprising correspondent's report: — 

" Sav, I can't make out this ffao- of truce Sfacr. 
It reminds me of two kids in a street fight, stop- 
ping after every punch to ask the other feller if 
he's had enough. Why don't we keep at it until 
somebody gets hurted.'*" 

Somebody had got " hurted," but, like a brave 



2 so OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

soldier, did not wish to give in until he could do 
so with honor. 

So the flags of truce came and went, but the re- 
sult of one of these journeys again set the trenches 
to cheering. 

It was on the sixth of July that General Shafter 
proposed to General Toral an exchange of a Span- 
ish lieutenant and seven men for Naval Constructor 
Hobson and his seven men, prisoners in Santiago. 

Under a spreading ceiba, or great silk-cotton 
tree, the exchange of prisoners was arranged ; and 
late in the afternoon of that same sixth of July, 
after he had been for six weeks a prisoner under 
fire in Santiago, the release came, and, as Mr. Davis 
graphically describes it, " with the rifle-pits behind 
him filled with thousands of the enemy, with the 
rifle-pits before him filled with thousands of his 
friends, Hobson and his seven comrades rode out 
into the welcoming arms of the American army 
and into their inheritance." 

That inheritance was the one word " heroes ! " 
and, as the first fruits, the trenches were alive with 
cheering men. The band struck up " The Star- 
Spangled Banner," cavalrymen and infantry un- 
covered in salute as the hero of the Mennmac rode 
by, and then, with a wild burst of welcoming and 



WIIV THEV CHKERKI) IN THK rRP:NCHES 251 




A SILK-COTTON TREE. 

(Under such a tree as this, the ceiba or silk-cotton tree, the negotiations for 

surrender took place.) 

appreciative cheers, the men wlio. at the risk of 
their lives upon the blood-spattered heights before 
Santiasio, had so fouirht as to set him and his 
comrades free, waved hats and hands in frantic 
salute, and filled the air with the loud ringing re- 
sponse to the oft-repeated demand. " Now, boys, 
once more ! Three cheers for Hobson ! " 

Still the f^acrs of truce came and went; still the 
Spaniard protested and held out ; still the Amer- 
ican threatened and vielded another dav. A con- 



252 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



ference between the army and navy resulted in an 
agreement for a joint attack from sea and shore ; 
but the presence of so many non-combatants and 
friends of America in Santiago held off the attack 
day after day, while, through fear of it, hundreds 
and thousands of refugees streamed out of the 
besieged and starving city toward dismantled and 
over-crowded El Caney. 




MULE TKAIX ON THE WAY TO RELIEVE THE SANTIAGO REFUGEES. 

Finally the Spanish commander offered to evacu- 
ate Santiago and march away with his troops ; but 
President McKinley was firm. 

" We must have the city and the soldiers," he 
decided. " The surrender must be unconditional," 

Then, as Spanish diplomacy failed, Spanish bluff 



WHY THEY CHEERED L\ lliK TRENCHES 253 

tried its liand. The lon^r truce was suddenly ended 
at four o'clock on the afternoon of July 10; the 
men on both sides dropped into the shelter of their 
trenches or their ramparts, and hostile shots Hew 




THE CHURCH AT EL CANEY. 

(Fortified by the Spaniards, won by the Americans, and used as a hospital 

for refugees.) 

across the debated ground, while off Aguadores 
the fleet beo^an to shell the citv. 

Then American generosity played its part. Next 
day, at noon, on the eleventh, the last gun was 
fired. For there had come from Washington a 
telegram stating that if the Spanish would >urren- 
der unconditionallv. the United States c^overnment 
would agree to sliip the soldiers home to Spain at 
its own expense. 



2 54 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Once more the white flags fluttered out, that 
this ofenerous offer from a victorious foeman 
might be communicated to the Spanish general ; 
once more the information was cabled to Madrid 
" for the consideration of Spain," and once more 
the boys in the trenches and under the hills 
waited for developments and swapped biienas 
with the Spanish boys, also waiting for develop- 
ments. "One morning at 11.30 o'clock," says one 
of the offlcers, " the army was ordered into the 
rifle-pits. It was terribly hot in the trenches. 
We waited until 12.30, and still the opening gun 
was not heard. One man said that he had 
rather be shot than roast to death in that 
oven, and the men got out of the pits. In two 
or three minutes another regiment got out, and 
was seated on the ground in front. The Span- 
iards also got out, and there were the two armies, 
looking at each other." 

Slowly the developments they were waiting for 
came. From the third of July, when the heights 
fronting Santiago had been so bravely won and 
the fleet of Cervera had been so marvellously de- 
stroyed, until the fifteenth of July, when Spaniard 
and American met under the spreading ceiba tree 
where they had arranged for the release of Hob- 



WHY THEY CHEERED IN THE TRENCHES 255 

son, Spaniard and American waited for the end 
they knew must speedily come. 

" In my opinion this closes the war with Spain," 
General Shafter telegraphed to the President, 
when, after the <>overnment s (generous offer to 
send home the Spanish troops, the Spanish gen- 
eral inquired if the offer included his entire 
command. 

" The moment Admiral Cervera's fleet was 
destroyed," an observant English authority de- 
clared, " the war was practically at an end, unless 
Spain had elected to fight on to save the point 
of honor." 

I kit whether the army or the navy was the 
chief factor in the final result, it is certain that 
for a few days the answer of the Spanish com- 
mander was delayed or given " in instalments " 
and it was uncertain whether or not Spain would, 
as the Englishman suggested, " fight on to save 
the point of honor." 

Whatever was to be the result, the Yankee 
bovs in the trenches were not to be caueht 
napping. 

" We kept right on working," says General 
Clark of the Second Massachusetts. " We had 
extended our lines until we reached a point 



256 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



where the foothills terminated. We moved 
down from the foothills on the morning of the 
twelfth of July. This was during the truce. We 
paid no attention to truces. We continued to 
build works, just as we did at any other time. 
We totally ignored such things. We were not 





* i HI 


t L 


1 


J 


J 


ggjgf^'' '''% 


»^ 


mffl 


mf-^ 


m 


w 


Hi 


T5 " 





RAILWAY STATION ON THE ROAD FROM EL CANEY TO SANTIAGO. 
(Used by Americans as hospital and guardhouse.) 

more than five hundred yards — four hundred or 
five hundred yards — from the earthworks the 
Spanish occupied. They stood there on their 
works and looked at us, apparently in amazement." 

The boys were there to take Santiago ; and 
they did not propose to be caught unprepared 
by any Spanish fooling. 

On that same twelfth of July came the com- 



win- rilKV CIIKFRKD IX TUF. TRF.XCHES 257 

mandcr-in-chicf of the Aiiiericaii army, General 
Nelson A, Miles, not to interfere in the cam- 
paign, but to be on hand at its close, even waiv- 
ins: his own su<2:o:cstions in deference to Shafter's 
fnni assurance that the enemy were "going to 
surrender." 

Surrender they did at last. Bluff and diplo- 
macy b(^th nave in. At nine o'clock on the 
morning of Thursday, the fourteenth of July, the 
white flag came fluttering out from the Spanish 
lines. Then, in the shelter of the usual ceiba 
tree, General Shafter, the American, met General 
Toral, the Spaniard ; a commission was appointed 
to draw up terms of capitulation ; under the same 
ceiba tree the commissioners met, and, sitting on 
the ground, with a board on a camp stool for a 
table, they drew up and wrote out in Spanish 
and in English the terms of the surrender. 

At five o'clock on the afternoon of July 16, 
the capitulation was signed. The news spread 
quickly. It climbed the hill to the trenches; 
it ran around the hills to the rifle-pits; it rushed 
to the front; it travelled to the rear, until the 
whole army, from El Caney to Aguadores and 
from San Juan to Siboney, had heard the wel- 
come news. 

s 



2 58 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Up to the boys in the trenches a horseman 
came spurring; he galloped along the line, and 
the soldiers knew, as they clambered out of the 
rifle-pits, that he bore good news for them. 

He waved his hand in assurance and emphasis. 

" What is it ? " " What you got ? " came the ex- 
cited demands. 

" Boys," shouted the messenger, quite as ex- 
citedly, "don't you cheer! We don't want to 
make those Dagoes feel too bad. But say, General 
Toral has agreed to surrender. That's straight. 
I got it from headquarters. They surrender." 

No cheering: ! That was the order, out of re- 
spect to the defeated foemen. But all along that 
line of trenches a thousand hats were tossed high 
in air, while men jumped up and down for joy, and, 
as one marked time, the noiseless cheer that no 
one but themselves could hear went whispering 
alono; the line in a hoarse but voiceless chorus 
and to measured time : — 

"Rah! rah! rah! Tiger!!" 

Then, in a broad field before the gates of San- 
tiago, General Shafter with his general officers 
and their staffs and a ouard of one hundred men 
met General Toral, the Spanish commander, with 
an equal following. Standing before his troops. 



wiiv iiiiA ciii:kri:i) in iiii:: TRj:.NCiii:s 259 

General I'oral, witli presented sword, said, " I sur- 
render the Spanish iruups under ni)- cunnnand 
and tliis ]ilace." 

The Spani^li officers and troops presented arms. 

"I accept the surrender in behalf of the govern- 
ment of the United States," replied General Shafter. 






4 




"NO cheering!" 

(How the boys in the trenches received the news of Torars surrender.) 

Then the Spanish flag dropped from the gov- 
ernor's palace in the city; the American soldiers 
presented arms in salute, and two and two the 
.American oiificers and their escort rode through 
the gate of Santiago. At the governor's palace 
all the ci\il officers of the town received tlu-m. 
Lunch was served, and then as the clock on the 



26o OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

cathedral struck the hour of noon, while the plaza 
was filled with a watching throng, and before the 
open doors were grouped the American officers 
and their staffs with one hundred men picked from 
the cavalry and infantry, Lieutenant Miley of Gen- 
eral Shafter's staff ran up the stars and stripes to 
the top of the flagpole on the governor's palace. 

The officers stood with uncovered heads; the 
soldiers presented arms ; the band of the Sixth 
Cavalry struck up the " Star-Spangled Banner," 
the artillery fired a salute of twenty-one guns, and 
as Old Glory streamed from the conquered staff, 
all the world knew that the city of Santiago with 
all its defences and a Spanish army of twenty-three 
thousand men with all its arms and munitions of 
war had surrendered to the victorious American 
general, who had been sent to do a quick job 
quickly, and had done it ! 

And once more all the boys in the trenches 
and in the camps cheered for the flag, the repub- 
lic, the army, and themselves. The men of the 
gun-deck and the turret, the men of the trench 
and the battery, had fought their fight and won 
the day. Santiago had fallen; an army had sur- 
rendered, and the President telegraphed to the 
general : — 



WHY THKY CHKFRKI) T\ THK TRFXCIIKS 261 

"The President of tlie I'nitecl States sends to 
you and your brave ariuy tlie profound thanks 
of the American people for the brilliant achieve- 
ments at Santiago, resulting in the surrender of 
the city and all of the Spanish troops and terri- 
torv under General Toral. 

"Vour splendid command has endured not only 
the hardships and sacrifices incident to campaign 
and battle, but in stress of heat and weather has 
triumphed over obstacles which would have over- 
come men less brave and determined. One and 
all have displayed the most conspicuous gallantry, 
and earned the gratitude of the nation. The 
hearts of the people turn with tender sympathy 
to the sick and wounded. INIay the Father of 
Mercies protect and comfort them." 

At noon on July 17 the thanks of the Pres- 
ident were read to every regiment in the army 
before Santiago. 

And once again the boys along ten miles of 
trenches and in the camj) of the reserves cheered 
in approval and cried, "Hurrah for us!" 



CHAPTER XIV 



HOW THE FLAG FLOATED OVER PORTO RICO 



ALTHOUGH General 
. Miles, the commander- 
in-chief of the army, came 
down to Santiago, just be- 
fore the surrender, as I have 
told you, to see how things 
were oettino; on, he did not 
stay there long. 

In spite of some discom- 
forts, some " shortages " as 
GENERAL MILES. to food aud suppUcs, and 

some heedlessness as to sanitary and health regu- 
lations in a hot, wet, Cuban season. General Miles 
found few things to criticise and less to change. 
He realized, as did few of the people who criti- 
cised unwittingly, that a short and sharp campaign 
in the heat of a tropical summer means much 
risk ; but it was a campaign, in this case, that was 

imperative. 

262 




HOW THE FLAC; FLOATED OVER FORIO RICO 263 

" G(^ witli your force to rapture garrison at 
Santiago and assist in cai)turing harbor and 
fleet," the " rush orders " to General Shafter h.ad 
read. So, slighting many tilings that were im- 
portant Ijut not absolutely necessary for a ^hort 
and sharj) campaign, General Shafter rushed in 
to make quick work of it. 

He did make quick worlc of it — and thorough, 
loo. As the commissioners appointed by the 
President to make a full and unhampered inves- 
tieation of the conduct of the war said in their 
report of February 12, 1S99: — 

"Owing to the lack of necessary transports, the 
means of land transportation during the Santiago 
campaign was painfully deficient, but, in spite of 
the absence of this almost absolutely necessary 
portion of the equipment of a well-trained com- 
mand, the army drove the enemy before it, cap- 
tured their outposts, pushed them behind their 
main defences, drove their fleet from Santiago 
bay to absolute destruction as it faced the navy 
of our country, and, finally, after most gallant fight- 
ing under a tropical sun, amid most adverse con- 
tlitions, captured a strongly fortified city and 
received as prisoners of war over twenty-three 
thousand Spanish soldiers. 



264 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



This was a grand record, in spite of adverse 
conditions — it was grand, even because of them. 
But General Miles, a brave soldier, an Indian 
fighter of long and triumphant experience, and a 
man who knew how to profit by the experiences 




A BULLOCK CART IN PORTO RICO. 

(A familiar sight in West Indian towns.) 

of others, determined that, in the work he had to 
do, these " adverse conditions " should not exist, 
or, at least, should be reckoned for and discounted 
in advance. 

The " w^ork " he had to do was the occupation 
and subjugation of the Island of Porto Rico, 



HOW THK FI.AC. FI.O.VIKD OVKR I'ORTO RICO 265 

Spain's last possession in Ikt former .\nierican 
Empire. 

You will remember that the first plan of the 
War Department, before the invasion of Cuba, had 
been to possess itself of Porto Rico and use the 
island as a base of supplies and of operation 
against the Spaniards in Cuba. But Cervera's 
fleet and the Santiago campaign had changed all 
that; and the war had begun in Cuba. 

None the less, though, was the wisdom of occu- 
pying Porto Rico felt at the War Department, 
and, as soon as the worst of the Santiago cam- 
paign seemed over. General Miles, who was to 
conduct in person the invasion of the smaller 
island, made ready for his Porto Rican campaign. 

Lono- in advance of this, the island had been 
carefully and secretly studied by Captain Whit- 
ney, of the Engineers, who, says Mr. Davis, "at 
the greatest personal risk a man can run, had, 
two months before the army reached it, carefully 
studied out the entire island, its roads and harbors, 
so that not only the army, but the navy also re- 
lied upon and used his drawings and notes." 
There are other thinq;s besides marchincj^ and 
fifjhtinir, vou see, that are necessary to success in 
war. How little we think of the silent, secret 



266 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

work done beforehand ; how little of the humane, 
healing work done afterward. A campaign is not 
all battle; courage is not merely shooting, charging, 
and planting the flag. The Secret Service and the 
Red Cross Society have also their roll of heroes. 

Still, battle is conflict, and it was necessary for 
General Miles to prepare beforehand for all the 
shooting and charging and planting the flag that 
might devolve upon his army of invasion. So he 
had everything fully gone over and mapped out 
in advance. Sailing for Santiago, ostensibly with 
reenforcements for Shafter's army, his troops were 
really intended for the campaign in Porto Rico, 
in case Santiago could get along without them. 

After a few days before Santiago, he decided 
that the campaign so nearly closed there could 
be finished without the help of his men, and on 
the afternoon of Thursday, the twenty-first of 
July, he set sail from Guantanamo with an army 
of thirty-five hundred men, on eight transports, 
convoyed by a battleship, a cruiser, and six small 
war-vessels, some of which, like the plucky yacht 
Gloucester, had done splendid service with Samp- 
sons fleet. 

If you look at your map of Porto Rico, you 
will notice that, as it rises from the sea five 



HOW THK KL.\(; FI.OA llll ) OXKR POKIO RKO 2(\j 

hundred miles and more to (lie ca>t of Cuba, 
witli Haiti lying ioetween, it looks like a hig 
rectangular block, as indeed it is ; for we are 
tuld that it ha.s bu few irrcLJularities in its outline 




THE CASA BLAXCA. 

(Or White House, the ancient castle of Ponce de Leon, the Coiiqiiistadore, 
in San Juan, Porto Rico.) 

that its surface covers more than ei<>litv-ei<>]it i^er 
cent of a real mathematical rectan"le. 

The island of Porto Rico is one hundred and 
eight miles long and thirty-seven miles wide. 
It is cut nearlv throu<>h the middle bv a ran<j:e 
of mountains, runnin<>- from east to west, and it 



268 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

is seamed witli rivers and streams, some of them 
of fair size and depth. It has a population of 
eight hundred thousand, — San Juan, its capital, 
on the north coast, having twenty-four thousand 
inhabitants, and Ponce, on the south coast, having 
thirty-eight thousand. 

General Miles's plan of invasion was to capture 
Ponce, on the south coast, and from there as a 
base to send four parallel columns of troops across 
the island, — one at the east end, one at the west, 
and two betw^een, — who as they marched should 
drive all the Spaniards before them, the columns 
gradually heading toward San Juan on the north 
coast, where the enemy, being thus all carefully 
" rounded up," would be " corralled " and finally cap- 
tured in the capital. It was as neat and clean and 
thorough a plan of campaign as ever this veteran 
Indian fighter had conceived and executed; and 
he had " rounded up " the Sioux after Custer's de- 
feat and " corralled " the Nez Perces at Cow Island. 

Since Columbus discovered the island in 1493, 
and Ponce de Leon settled it in 15 10, Porto 
Rico had withstood and defeated four English 
invasions, Spain had crushed out two island in- 
surrections, and the flag of Spain still floated as 
the comjuistadores had planted it in possession 



HOW THE FLAG FLOATED OVER PORTO RICO 269 

and authority. Now, like a l)la.st fioni {hv nortli, 
came the sons of llie I']nL;ii>h and other men of 
vigorous >toek to drive out tlie men wlio for four 
lumch-ed \ears liad ruled as masters of thi.^ beau- 
tiful suiiimer isle. 

Hut now the Spanish masters of Porto Rico 
had no fleet to protect them, no army to reenforce 
tlum. no help to depend upon but their own 
valor and persistence. The Porto Rieans, them- 
selves, after four hundred years of Spanish rule, 
were willing and even anxious to exchange it 
for American possession ; and, save for that de- 
batable and uncertain factor of SjDanish honor 
whicli has played so important and fluctuating 
a part in the romance and achievements of Spain 
from the Cid to Don Quixote and from Numantia 
to Saragossa, the Spanish army in Porto Rico 
mioht better have surrendered at once to the 
American invaders. 

The American invaders coasted along the 
northern shore of Haiti and Santo Domingo, 
and every one in the fleet, excepting the general 
in command, decided that they were heading 
straight for San Juan, which, you remember. Ad- 
miral Sampson visited and bombarded while on 
a hunt for Cervera's elusive fleet. But, when off 



2/0 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

the Mona passage which divides Porto Rico from 
Santo Domingo, General Miles directed the fleet 
to turn south into the wide passage and announced 
to his officers that he was bound for Ponce on 
the southern coast. 

Fifteen miles west of the city of Ponce is the 
little port of Guanica. The American expedition 
appeared off the town at daylight, on July 25. 
At once, Wainwright, in the yacht Gloucester, 
steamed into the harbor, silenced the surprised 
Spanish blockhouse defenders, and then, landing 
a force of blue-jackets, hauled down the Spanish 
flag, ran up the stars and stripes, and "wig- 
waeeed " to the fleet that Guanica was won ! 
Then the troops disembarked from the trans- 
ports, the frightened Guanicans came streaming 
back from the hills in welcome, and the Ameri- 
can landing on the soil of Porto Rico had been 
accomplished without an injury. 

Ponce, as I have told you, was to be the basis 
of operations in the Porto Rican campaign, and 
Ponce, therefore, must be captured at once. For 
this purpose an advance was sent against the 
little village of Yauco, where the railroad to 
Ponce begins, and companies of the Sixth Massa- 
chusetts and of the Sixth Illinois volunteers, com- 



HOW THK KI-.U; I'LO.Vn:!) OVI-.R PORTO RICO 2~\ 




A PORTO RICAX GARDEN". 

ing upon the enemy intrenched on a liill near 
the village of Yauco, at once engaged them in 
a skirmish and charge, defeating and driving them 
back. 

Meantime the battleship Massachusetts with four 
of the smaller war-vessels had steamed down to 
Ponce to blockade the harbor and combine with 
the army for its capture. Hut while the combi- 
nation was forming, a bright young sailor-lad, 
Ensic^n Curtin of the Dixie, was sent on shore 
by his commander. He bore a letter demanding 
the surrender of the port and city of Ponce; and 



2/2 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

he was so determined-looking a boy and had so 
evidently the air of the " conquering hero," that 
the captain of the port was visibly impressed by 
this combination of sailor-boy and battleships. 

Now the city of Ponce lies four miles inland 
from the port of Ponce ; but the captain of the 
port felt confident that his superior officer, the 
commandant of Ponce, would deem it wise to sur- 
render the city if the valiant young American 
officer would honor him with a visit and ride up 
to the city with his letter. 

The idea of an ensign of the American navy 
riding off to confer with a Spanish commander 
for the surrender of a city of forty thousand in- 
habitants was not to be thouQ-ht of ! It was 
clearly the Spanish commander's duty to come 
to the port and surrender to the ensign. So he 
demanded at once that the commandant at Ponce 
be " called up " on the telephone and informed 
that unless the port and city of Ponce were sur- 
rendered to the American forces within thirty 
minutes the warships would bombard immediately. 
The telephone tinkled and buzzed, and the en- 
sign's message went over the 'phone to Ponce. 

What could the commandant do ? He yielded 
at once to the stern demand of the determined 



HOW THK FLAG FLOAIKn OVI.R rORTO RICO 273 



vouiv'- ensign, and thus, for the first time in 
history, a city was summoned and surrendered by 
telephone; and the nation will not forget the 
name and triumphal bearing of Ensign Curtin 
of the Dixie. 

Next day, the twenty-ninth of July, the pt^rt 
and town were actually occupied by the troops, 
and the chief city of Porto Rico came into the 
possession of the invaders without a blow. 

It was but the beginning of the same experi- 
ence all over the island. For so complete and 
effective was General Miles's plan of campaign, 
so ready were the people of Porto Rico to change 
flags and, from Spanish subjects become possible 
American citizens, that the army of invasion was 
greeted, says Mr. Church, "not as conquerors, but 
as deliverers," and instead of a bombardment Gen- 
eral Miles met them with proclamations and prom- 
ises, and his men had to defend themselves from 
embraces rather than ambuscades. 

The friendliness of the people and the way 
in which they helped rather than hmdered the 
American occupation furnished the key, so Mr. 
Church declares, " to the bold and rapid advance 
ordered by General Miles in all directions." 

His advance was, indeed, bold and rapid. Three 



274 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



ports on the southern coast — Ponce, Guanica, and 
Arrayo — were occupied, and at once the httle 
army, now reenforced by new arri\'als to nearly 
eleven thousand men, commenced its march by 
four well-considered routes around and across the 




A MOUNTAIN BATTERY. 
(Ready to start for the advance across Porto Rico.) 

island, with the capital city of San Juan, on the 
north coast, as the objective point. 

The divisions marched promptly and trium- 
phantly. Town after town surrendered, and Ameri- 
can flags of occupation were in such demand that 
temporary ones had to be painted by soldier deco- 
rators and permanent ones telegraphed for to 
Washington. At various points the Spanish troops 



now THE FI,.\r, FLOATF.n OVER PORTO RICO 275 

resisted the American achanee — at I leiiniqueras 
and Rio Comas, at vVibonito anrl (inayama and 
other niinor points; but these were all little else 
tlian skirmishes, the one at Hermiqueras being 
the most important, and all of them being won 
by the Americans at an insignificant loss in killed 
and wounded. 

It was on the twelfth of August that the artil- 
lery of General WtIsohs division of General 
Brooke's command had advanced their guns to 
the pass of Aibonito, near the town of Guayama, 
from which the fine military road runs straight 
to San juan. 

The Spaniards intrenched upon the hills were 
called upon to surrender, but the colonel com- 
manding them sent back the plucky answer: "Tell 
General Wilson if he wishes to avoid the further 
shedding of blood to stay where he is." 

But General Wilson did not intend to stay 
where he was. He was determined to reduce 
and occujjy the Spani^h intrenchments on the 
hills; so he advanced his position, planted his 
artillery, and prepared to give the Spanish colo- 
nel defiance for defiance. 

Further alonii; General Wilson's line, where 
General Brooke was watching his forward move- 



2/6 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

ment, Battery B of the Pennsylvania artillery had 
pushed on its guns to command the Spanish 
position to the left of Guayama. The piece was 
trained, the shell was in its chamber, range and 
sight were both arranged, and the gunner had 
just sprung backward for the discharge, when 
down the hard road came the sound of clattering 
hoofs, and a lieutenant of the Signal Corps gal- 
loped on the scene. In one hand he waved a 
despatch, with the other he pulled in his panting 
horse, while all the time he shouted the command : 

" Peace, peace ! Cease firing ! Peace has been 
declared ! " 

The gunner dropped his string; the gun stood 
silent ; the men of the battery gave a groan of 
displeasure. 

" Why couldn't he have waited just a minute?" 
they demanded, as the lieutenant flung himself 
from the saddle and handed his despatches to 
General Brooke. " We'd have given those Dagoes 
just one last thing to remember us by." 

The lieutenant was right. Peace had been 
declared ; or, at least, the Spanish government 
had proposed an armistice, and through the French 
minister at Washington had signed the prelimi- 
nary agreement for peace. At once all hostile 




^■\^r^-«T 



" CEASE FIRING ! I'liAC li HAS lililiN DECLARED. 



HOW THE FLAG FLOATED OVER PORTO RICO 279 

operations on land and sea were stopped, and 
the flag whieh had come in armed inxasion to 
Porto Rico, staved wlierever it was raised. The 
union of forces for the occupation of San Juan 
was peaceal)ly made, and all the elaborate plans 
for the military conquest of the island yielded to 
the demands of ]3eace. 

lUit the i>land so hajDpily invaded at such little 
loss, thanks to the careful plans of the command- 
ing general and the spontaneous uprising of the 
people, had passed into the possession of the 
United States to stay. The permanent annexa- 
tion of the island was declared to be the deter- 
mination of the United States; the decision was 
joyfully accepted by the peo}Dle of that land of 
summer, and, after four hundred years of wasteful 
occupation and stupid misrule, the Spanish ban- 
ner fell from its staff and the flag of the Union 
tioated over Porto Rico. 



CHAPTER XV 

WHY GENERAL MERRITT PLAYED JACKSON AT MANILA 

ON the very day when that lieutenant of the 
signal corps galloped along the lines in 
Porto Rico shouting " peace ! " to the expressed 
dissatisfaction of the gunners of Battery B, it was 
raining heavily in far-off Manila. 

There was nothing strange about that, for it 
was the rainy season at Manila, and the camp of 
the Americans on Manila Bay was wet and soggy 
from three weeks of perpetual rain. But the 
boys in the camp did not find so much fault with 
the rain as they did over the delay. There they 
were, soldier boys from America, spoiling for a 
fight; there, in and about the old walled city, was 
the enemy ; and the Spanish flag still floated 
above the ramparts and walls of Manila ! 

" Why don't we go in and chase 'em out ? " was 
their frequent grumbling query. " That's what 
we came here for, wasn't it ? " 

Since we stopped that July day with the 

2S0 



GENERAL MI'-RRIIT AT MANILA 2<Si 

achancc of the relief expedition and so surprised 
tlie o'owrnor of riuam, a sinall arnu" of Ignited 
States troops had sailed into Manila harbor. They 
counted ten thousand men in all, regulars and 
xolunteers, in three divisions, with Major-General 
Wesley Merritt in eoniniand, while two more war- 
ships, the Monadiiock and the Mo)itcrc\\ reenforced 
Admiral Uewey's Heet. 

The Western boys who made uj) the bulk of 
the invading army — volunteers in regiments from 
Oregon, Nebraska and Idaho, ^linnesota, Wash- 
ington, and both the Dakotas, Colorado, Wyoming 
and Nevada, California, Utah and Kansas, with 
some from Pennsylvania also, and a few regiments 
of regulars — were impatient to get at the Span- 
iards at once, not appreciating the fact that, in 
war, diplomacy plays almost as imi)ortant a part 
as fighting. 

Admiral Dewey and General Merritt had a 
number of things to "arrange." The insurgent 
iMlipinos, strengthened in their endeavor for inde- 
pendence by the American declaration of war and 
Uewey's reniarkable victory, gathered in force be- 
fore Manila, proclaimed the Philippine republic, 
declared Kmilio Aiiuinaldo o;eneralissimo and 
president of the revolutionary government, cap- 



282 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

tured over sixteen thousand Spanish prisoners, 
and demanded recognition and alHance from the 
United States. 

But neither Admiral Dewey nor General Mer- 
ritt was authorized to treat with the so-called 
Philippine republic, nor to recognize Aguinaldo 
as its president. Their duty was to capture or 
expel the Spaniards from the Philippines and 
assert the temporary authority of the United 
States as occupiers and possessors of conquered 
Spanish territory; in no way would they recog- 
nize or countenance, officially, the claims or de- 
sires of the insurgent Filipinos, whose army, thirty 
thousand strong, had gathered about beleaguered 
Manila. 

This w^as no easy work in those peculiar sur- 
roundings, where much of the comfort of the army 
depended upon the relations with the natives; 
neither was it easy to hold in check the unfriend- 
liness of the German and the French naval officers, 
who openly displayed their sympathy for Spain, 
and who, again and again, as I have told you in a 
former chapter, pushed the forbearance of Ad- 
miral Dewey almost to the breaking point. 

More than this, the main object of the expedi- 
tion — the conquest of the Spanish forces in the 



GENERAI, Ml'RRriT AT MANILA 283 

IMiilippiiiL's — claimed their first thoiiglit; Ijut cwii 
in tliis opcratioi-i oIIkt tilings than "just fighting" 
needed to be considered. Ammunition and sup- 
plies for the troops must be landed and distrib- 
uted ; the non-combatants and foreign citizens 
in Manila must be given time for removal and 
due notice of bombardment and attack must be 
communicated, in the interests of humanity. 

On the twenty-fifth of July General Merritt had 
arrived with the last detachment of troops; an in- 
trenched camp had been made in a rice field near 
the shore of the bay, between Cavite and Manila, 
to which had been given the name of Camp Dewey, 
and the outposts had been advanced to within 
two miles and a half of the Spanish works. 

On the night of July 31, the Spanish soldiers 
made an attack on the American intrenchments, in 
the midst of a fierce midnight storm, but our boys 
were ready for them, and the attack was repulsed 
as, with a rousing cheer, the California troops 
charged through the rain to the support of the 
Pennsylvania boys, and silenced the Spanish fire. 
Ten men were killed and thirty wounded in that 
fight before the Spanish outworks; but it showed 
the temper and proved the valor of the American 
troops, and, save by a few feints at attack and a 



284 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

harmless artillery fire to which our boys were 
ordered to pay no attention, their efforts to pro- 
voke the Americans to a fight ceased, and our 
land and naval force prepared for the final attack. 

This came on the thirteenth of August, On 
the seventh, Admiral Dew^ey and General Merritt, 
having summoned the Spanish commander to 
surrender, gave him forty-eight hours to remove 
the women and children ; after which, unless the 
city surrendered, the bombardment and assault of 
Manila would begin. 

As there was really no place to which the help- 
less non-combatants could be sent, the city being 
entirely invested by the American troops on one 
side and the rebel Filipinos on the other, the ad- 
miral and the general, when the forty-eight hours 
had expired, sent another summons to the Span- 
iard, showing him his absolute helplessness and 
hopelessness in case a joint attack was made ; 
and again they formally demanded his surrender. 

Like all Spanish commanders, the general at 
Manila shirked his responsibilities, and said he 
must refer the matter to the home authorities at 
Madrid, and was therefore powerless in the mat- 
ter. Whereupon the American commanders, see- 
ing that a fight was the only way to settle the 




— "in 



o 



1> 
> 
o 

T3 



— j= 



GENERAL MERRIir AT MANILA 287 

qUL'stion, called a council of war on the eleventh 
of August, and cxphained to the generals of divi- 
sions the [)lans for the joint attack. 

Next day — that same twelfth of August on 
which the galloping messengers of peace roused 
the trenches before Santiago and stopped the 
battle in Porto Rico, the troops before 
Manila, ignorant of what was happening ten 
thousand miles away, were gathering in the pour- 
ino: rain for the stormintr of Manila. 

At four o'clock 011 the morning of Saturday, 
the thirteenth, the camp was on the move, and 
the men bcijan their march to the front. Out 
of the soggy camp, and along the muddy road, 
knee-deep in water, while the rain fell heavily, 
the Americans advanced, careless of the weather 
and the water so long as the forward movement 
meant l)usiness and the boys were to have a 
chance at the enemy. 

Out in the bay the ships of the squadron were 
also in motion ; and, as they started, the rain 
stopped, and the sky cleared, much to the relief 
of the jackics as well as the soldier boys; for if 
they were to see the fight, they said, they wanted 
regular "Dewey weather" — that glorious May-day 
over again. 



288 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

The lead-colored fighting ships were stripped 
for action ; awnings were ready to be thrown off, 
fires under the boilers needed only a stir to set 
them roaring, and every man in the fleet watched 
to see the signal " Close in " stream out from the 
yards of the Olympia. 

The signal flew at last, and at nine o'clock on 
the mornino- of the thirteenth, while the land 
force was marching out of Camp Dewey on the 
beach, the fleet of Admiral Dewey, in assigned 
order, fell into line, and, with battle flags at mast 
and gaff, stood across the bay for Manila. 

The fleets of neutral nations had been ordered 
from the zone of danger. Far down the bay, 
toward Corregidor, lay the German and Spanish 
warships, eight keels in all ; but, close against the 
American right, the three warships of England 
ranged themselves — a warning, a protest, a bar- 
rier, if occasion arose, against any hostile move- 
ment on the part of the French or German fleet. 
England had decided against Spain, against all 
Europe, if need be, and ranged her fleet side by 
side with that of her "kin beyond sea," as Glad- 
stone called the Americans. 

And as Dewey's battle line swept across the 
bay toward Manila on that famous Saturday 



GICNKRAL MI'KRIir AT MANILA 289 

nioriiiiiL:;, the British tlaL;.slii|) IniDiortalite steamed 
fiX)ni her berth with her nieii niannin;'" the riiruiiiir, 
]ier officers drawn up at salute, her splenchd l)and 
stationed on tlie quarterdeck. Right alongside 
the American llagship she steamed, and as she 
passed the Olympia, her band struck uj), "The Star- 
Spangled Banner." Then her men and officers 
cheered in salute, and as the Olviupia signalled the 
fleet to " break out the battle flags," and the Stars 
and Stripes streamed from every masthead, again 
the British band played — "See! the Conquering 
Hero Comes!" again the British sailors cheered 
in salute and God-speed, and \\'\\\\ the friendly 
echoes still ringinii^ in their ears the Yankee 
jackies sailed on to their last battle with Sj^ain 
in the war of '98. 

You remember, do you not, that when General 
Andrew Jackson fought his famous battle of the 
cotton bales before New Orleans, on the ciQ:hth of 
January, in the year 181 5, peace had already been 
declared between England and America. But of 
this "Old Hickory" knew nothing, for there were 
no telegraphs then, mails were slow and long in 
coming, and Xew Orleans was really farther from 
Washington than is Manila in this day of quick 
connections. 



290 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Telegraphs and mails were better in the clay 
of Merritt and Dewey. But Hong Kong was the 
nearest telegraphic point to Manila, and it took 
three days for a despatch boat to steam across 
the China Sea with telegrams. So, when the 
thirteenth of August dawned, although hostilities 
were ordered to cease and peace had been ar- 
ranged, the soldiers and sailors at far-off Manila 
had no knowledge of it, and General Merritt, all 
unwittingly, was about to play in the Philippines 
the part of General Andrew Jackson. 

The navy opened the ball. Moving in line of 
battle, the Olympia leading, the warships steamed 
up the bay, and at 9.45 o'clock a shot from the 
Olympias forward turret went flying over the 
water. 

Well in front of the walled city of Manila lay 
the old Malate fort, the chief artillery defence 
of the town. A line of trenches connected this 
fort with a blockhouse and covered the main 
approach to Manila along the Calle Real, or 
Royal Road. 

Admiral Dewey had no desire to bombard the 
city itself, filled with helpless non-combatants. He 
therefore ordered that the warships should not do 
this unless the batteries to the north of the Ma- 



GENERAL Ml'.RRirr AT MANILA 



291 



late fort opLMied fire on the licet. So the rest of 
the scjiuuh-on llo.Ued >ilent wliile the Ohniipia, the 
Ka/cio/i^ and the little Petrel plunij^ed their shot 
aoainst the old Malate fort and against the con- 
nectinu" intrenehments. 




A STREET IN .MAMI-A. 
(Showing signs of war's destruction.) 



Meantime, General Greene, jMerritt's second in 
command, had ordered his artillery to support the 
fire of the ships, and soon the field-guns were 
sweeping the ramp of the old fort. Then, as the 
troops drew nearer the Si)ani>li line, ( leneral 
Greene ordered a charge, and up to the line and 
over the intrenehments went two companies of 



292 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Colorado boys, the second battalion, an instant 
after, springing to their support. 

Before the vigorous rush of the Westerners the 
Spaniards refused to stand. They fled from their 
trenches to the cover of the fort ; but nothing 
stopped their pursuers. Over the intrenchments 
went one column ; up the beach and through the 
bamboo trail charged another. They forded the 
creek ; they rushed the breastwork ; they forced 
the entrance to the old fort, which for centuries 
had withstood attack. 

But not a Spaniard was there to greet them. 
Dismayed by the fire of the fleet and the resistless 
rush of the troops, the garrison had deserted the 
fort, and, flying for the nearest refuge, had shel- 
tered themselves behind the breastworks and within 
the blockhouse in the rear of the Malate, from 
which point of vantage they opened a worrying 
fire upon the captors of the fort. 

But the captors of the fort thought more of 
glory than of danger from Spanish riflemen, and 
when Lieutenant-colonel McCoy, of the First Col- 
orado, climbed the flagpole and tore down the 
Spanish colors that streamed over the fort, and in 
their place ran up the Stars and Stripes, then such 
a cheer rang out from ship and shore, from navy 



GENP:RAI, MllRRIlT AT MANII.A 293 

and army alike, that tlic Spaniards "shook in tlicir 
shoes," and concluded there was no resisliiiL;" "these 
terrible A nicricauosr 

While this was going on, other columns of Colo- 
rado troops had cleared tlie trenches connecting 
the fort and the blockhouse, and crossing the 
bridge that spanned the creek, pushed boldly along 
the Royal Road. Far off at the northeast the 
Spanish fire was directed toward them, but with 
so little effect that, when their comrades came to 
their support, the regimental band stationed itself 
in the captured trenches and began to play an 
inspiriting march. Then up from the beach and 
over the conquered earthworks came the reserves, 
as if on parade, marching in column with all flags 
flying. And when the colors trooped within the 
Spanish lines, the boys all cheered again. 

As this movement on the left ended in triumph, 
the reirulars and artillerv on the ri"ht advanced 
aeainst the trenches and the blockhouse, and, in 
the face of a hot fire from the trenches, swept the 
line, drove the Spaniards into the shelter of the 
blockhouse, and pushed their way into the out- 
skirts of the city. 

Just outside the green, moss-grown walls of old 
Manila, on the southern side of the town, stretches 



294 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

the beautiful promenade known as the Lunetta — 
the fashionable resort of Manila in times of peace, 
the pleasure ground upon which many a file of 
rebel Filipinos has been lined up and shot by 
Spanish soldiers for wishing to he free. 

As the advancing column of Americans came 
up the Royal Road to where it crosses the Lu- 
netta and filed into that splendid parade, the sol- 
dier boys cheered again. For there, ahead of 
them, was fluttering about the western bastion of 
the city walls the white flag of surrender. Word 
was passed rapidly to the rear, General Greene 
came galloping up, the rear of the column was 
ordered to double quick, and soon, beneath the 
gray walls of the old Spanish capital, moat-encir- 
cled and flanked by outer defences such as never 
these modern American boys had seen, massed 
before the main sallyport or gateway to the forti- 
fied town, wath colors flying in the strong sea- 
breeze and expectancy waiting with it all, one- 
half the American army of invasion waited while, 
within the walls, General Merritt decided the fate 
of the Philippines. 

Decision came speedily. " Yielding to supe- 
rior force," the Spanish captain-general surren- 
dered the city and fortifications of Manila with 



GENERAT, MF.RRirr AT MANILA 295 

all the S})anish troops therein. Eleven thousand 
Spanish soldiers ca})itulated as ])risoners of war ; 
the American troops marched in through the 
old, old gateway to occujn^ the town ; sentries 
were posted at every gate -to protect the city from 
the o\er-confident and spoil-demanding insurgent 
rih'i^inos. Above the governor-gcnerars palace 
streamed Old Glory in token of possession, while 
below in the garden of the palace, captured 
munitions of war were piled high in picturesque 
disarray. 

Manila was won. After four hundred years of 
Spanish misrule, the wonderfullv promising Pacific 
island-group of which it was the capital passed 
into the possession of the vigorous republic of the 
New World. Dewey with his fleet, and Merritt 
with his soldier bovs, had forced down the f^asf 
which, in all those four hundred years of Spanish 
occupation, had never yet been lowered, sa\e when 
the English stormed and held the citv for ran- 
som in 1762; and, the very day after peace had 
been declared, General Wesley Merritt, like Jack- 
son at New Orleans, had fought a needless but 
spirited fight, and won an unnecessary but glorious 
victory. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE THINGS THAT HELPED 

THUS, steadily, from victory to victory, from 
conquest to conquest, the war went forward, 
until all men saw that the end was in sight, and 
all men knew what that end would be. Of every 
victory and of every conquest the soldiers and 
sailors of the United States were the direct instru- 
ments; but as instruments are of little value save 
as they are used by skilled hands, so in war the 
skill in handling rests first upon the brain that 
guides the instrument, and next upon the outside 
helps that keep the instrument keen and sharp. 

By this, of course, you know^ I mean that the 
army and navy of the United States won swift 
success in our war with Spain because of their 
own valor, the way in which that valor was rightly 
directed and guided by " the men at the head," 
and also by the things that helped. 

There is little doubt that General Miles's asser- 
tion was true that fifty thousand volunteers would 

296 



THK rniNc.s rii.vr iii:i.iM;i) 297 

be a sufficient luinihei- to sunmion to battle, pro- 
vided the regular arm\' was i)i-op()rtionately in- 
creased. For, as \()U ha\e seen, the sltort and 
sharp campaign against Santiago demanded the 
actual services of less than twenty thousand men ; 
and the operations in far-otT Manila did not at 
first require over twelve thousand fighting men. 
The actual forces of the regular army would 
have sufficed, so far as real fighting in the field 
was concerned ; while a smaller and better-con- 
centrated force would have obviated the crowding 
or "congesting," as it is called, of men in camp 
and in transport. 

But in our war with Spain, the moral effect 
played quite as important a part as the actual 
"operations, and the call for two hundred thou- 
sand \ulunteers, so quickly and surpri>ingly obeyed, 
was a revelation to Spain and to the rest of the 
world of the spirit of patriotisni that dominated 
America, and showed that "business-loving" Amer- 
ica when once aroused was not to be trifled with. 

W'e know that volunteers far in excess of the 
required number were C[uick to answer the call 
of the President, but it is also a fact that, even 
before his call, days and weeks even before war 
was declared, application for service had come to 



298 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



the War Department in such numbers that they 
could not even be acknowledged, niuch less acted 
upon. A week before war was declared to exist, 
these applications for appointment in the service 
amounted to nearly eighteen thousand, while at 

the same time 
offers of service 
exceeded a mill- 
ion of men. 

Was not that 
the best sort of 
an answer to 
t li o s e h a 1 1 i n o- 
and unpatriotic 
doubters who 
'•capronVs pet."' declared that a 

(One of the "helps" trained on Santiago.) War witll Soaiu 

over Cuba would never be popular, and that no 
one would volunteer for such a war? So, you 
see, the first of " the things that helped " was the 
American people themselves. They helped, too, 
in that wonderful and spontaneous subscription 
to the big war loan, of which I told you — the 
authorized loan by the people to the go\'ernment 
of two hundred millions of dollars which, limited 
to small amounts, was subscribed for by the people 




THE THINGS THAI HIXPED 299 

many times over — fnc to one, at least. And 
money, cheerfully loaned b)' a people to prosecute 
a people's war, helps wonderfully. 

Then the people themselves helped, indi\idu- 
ally; how much they helped we shall never really 
know. I do not mean the officials, the department 
workers, or the soldiers and sailors. I mean the 
people themselves. There were people of means 
and i)osition, like Miss Helen Gould, who eave so 
freely and so gracefully of her money, her time, and 
her ability as to shame those of equal means who 
showed no sign of practical patriotism, while Con- 
gress officially thanked her for her patriotic inter- 
est, and the nation honored and esteemed her; 
there were people of no means and of unrecog- 
nized position who, from the children in the 
schools to the quiet worker in the countr\- village, 
sacrificed what was much to them to strengthen, 
cheer, or help ihe .soldiers in the field. The les- 
sons of the Civil Waw that time of superhuman 
sacrifice, in tlie North and South alike, had not 
been in vain, and the patriotism of 1861 bore its 
fruit in the patriotism of 1898. 

How widespread was that patrioti.-m the response 
jof the people in every section of the land amj:)ly 
1 showed. There were critics and fault-finders, as 



300 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

there always are and always will be when great 
deeds are afoot, but what the repulDlic started 
out to do, it did ! and criticism and fault-finding 
proved but blunted and blundering shafts. From 
every section came the patriots and heroes. Party 
lines were wiped away, sectional lines were oblit- 
erated, state and local rivalries were forgotten, and 
young and old, ready to uphold the national gov- 
ernment, seemed possessed of that spirit that lived 
in one of Webster's grandest speeches, "I — I, too, 
am an American." 

When Hobson of the Navy, welcomed by the 
cheers of an army, came out from his Santiago 
prison to liberty, he was greeted by General Joseph 
Wheeler, commanding the cavalry division of 
Shafter's army. With the general w^as his son, a 
lieutenant on his father's staff, while another son 
was on the Columbia of the blockading squadron, 
and his daughter was nursing the sick and 
wounded at Siboney. " It was," says Mr. Hob- 
son, " a remarkable picture of devotion, one of the 
most remarkable in history. This general, who 
with so much gallantry had led Confederate cav- 
alry, was now in the front rank of the Union 
forces, and with him almost his entire family, all 
in trying positions and braving the worst hard- 



THE TIIINCS VWYV IIF.I.PFD 301 

ships. I had fcU all the liiiK'," he adds, " that 
tlicrc was in the Southern heart nothiiiL:; but the 
truest loyalty; the occasion for ])roof had at last 
come, the fulfilment of a long-felt desire, and hence- 
forth the fact must be recognized by all parts of the 
country." 

"The state of I'lorida," wrote Mr. Davis from 
the camp of the Second Massachusetts under the 
pines of Lakeland, near Tampa, " is not very far 
from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when a 
bov is dving' under a tent, and a woman stands out- 
side the little chapel crying because the ofificers 
had not allowed her to take the sick soldier to her 
own house. She was only one of many women 
each of whom came to the camp to ask if she could 
not nurse the soldier, or bring him home with her, 
so that she miLrht feel that she was doin^; some- 
thing for the cause; so that his mother up in 
Massachusetts might feel that some other mother 
had been with him at the last." In the union of 
feeling and sympathy which brought all the sec- 
tions of the__great republic into one helj)ful, undi- 
vided familv the war with Spain was worth all it 
cost in blood and treasure, and in thi> mightv and 
spontaneous work all the people helj^ed. 

And when, later, not one but hundreds of sol- 



302 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



diers lay sick and suffering from wounds or fever, 
when food was scarce, and in the pest-ridden towns 
or in the crowded huts beyond the camps the starv- 
ino; reconcentrados and refuo^ees of Cuba beooed 
for bread, one other humane element of modern 
warfare did a noble work, knowing neither friend 

nor foe, knowing- 
only the dictates 
of Christ's hu- 
manity, under 
the old crusad- 
ino: sio-n of the 
Red Cross. 

From the very 
beoinninjT; of the 
war, from the 
gathering at 
Tampa to the 
last days, after surrender and even after peace, 
the American National Red Cross was in the 
field to succor the suffering Americans, Spanish, 
and Cubans. Upon its great black steamer, the 
S^a/e of Texas, " frying from her mainmast head 
the white flag emblazoned with the red Greek 
cross of the Geneva Convention," were the head- 
quarters of Miss Clara Barton and her staff of 




A NOBLE HELPER. 
(The Red Cross " soup line " in Santiago.) 



Till': THINGS THAT llllLl'KD 303 

trained surgeons, nurses, and field ofiieers; and 
from Port Tanipvi to Santiago, in all the davs of war 
and .sickness, the American National Red Cross 
i)ro\"ed itself one of the thinirs that helped nii<''htilv. 

" W orking in conjunction with the government 
authorities," said President INIcKinley, " and under 
their sanction and approxal, and with the enthusi- 
astic cooperation of many patriotic women and 
societies in the warious states, the Red Cross has 
fully maintained its already high reputation for 
intense earnestness and ability to exercise the noble 
purposes of its international organization, thus jus- 
tifying the confidence and support which it has 
received at the hands of American people. To the 
members and officers of this society and all who 
aided them in philanthropic work, the sincere and 
lasting gratitude of the soldiers and the public is 
due, and is freely accorded. In tracing these events 
we are constantly reniinded of our obligations to 
the Divine Master for His watchful care over us 
and llis safe guidance, for which the nation makes 
reverent acknowledgment, and offers humble prayer 
for the continuance of I lis favor." 

It was said, indeed, by certain critics of our mili- 
tary and naval movements that we owed most of 
our success to the watchful care and safe guidance 



304 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

of this ever watchful Providence ; that we had noth- 
ino- but kick and oood fortune from the start ; that 
when our transports or roving boats should natu- 
rally have been sunk or blown up or wrecked, they 
sailed on to success over summer seas; that, in 
fact, as one of the generals on the invading fleet 
declared, " This is God Almighty's war, and we are 
only His agents." 

But while good fortune doubtless did attend the 
voyage of the invading arniy and the movements 
of our fleets, it was also largely a proof of the say- 
ing that " the Lord helps those who help them- 
selves." For though much may have l^een omitted, 
much was also done ; and among the many things 
that helped was the wisdom of the Navy Depart- 
ment in adding to the sea-power of the republic 
among the steam vessels purchased, hired, or given 
to the government, the four " ocean greyhounds " 
of the American Line, officially known as the 
'' International Navigation Company." These swift 
and beautiful boats, known to thousands of ocean 
tra\ellers as the St Paul, St. Lojcis, Neiu York, 
and Paris, were fitted up as swift scout boats or 
auxiliary cruisers, the last two being rechristened 
the Yale and Harvard, \\\ honor of two leading- 
American universities. They. did splendid service. 



THH rillNC.S IIIAI 111,1 I'll) 305 

in connection with the hlockadini; fleet and under 
ru>li orders from the achniral, while more than once 
tlieir l^atteries came in pla)' for tlie bombarchnent 
of Spanish fortifications or the spirited attacks 
ujDon Spanish warships. 

One such spirited attack has become historic, — 
the pluckv fit^ht l^etween the S/. Paul and tlie 




JlIK M'. I'AL L AM) IHK TKKKtiiv. 

(Off San Juan, June 22.) 

Terror, on the twenty-second of June, off tlie Porto 
Rican port of San Juan. 

The .Sy. Paul was supplied with a battery of 
twelve guns — five-inch, six-pounders, three-])ound- 
ers, and Hotchkiss. She was commanded by the 
brave Caj^tain Sigsbee of the slaughtered Maine; 
and when on that June day a Sj^anish cruiser and 
a torpedo-boat destroyer sailed out from San Juan 



306 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

to sink the Sf. Pa?//, the ocean greyhound was 
ready for them. 

The cruiser was soon out of the race ; but the 
destroyer, Terror, stuck to her work determinedly, 
for the S/. Panl was an attractive target, and the 
Terror, with her swift movements, six guns, tor- 
pedo outfit, and tremendous speed, was a formi- 
dable adversary. There was a good deal of darting 
and dodging and firing, but to no advantage on 
either side, until at last the big liner got the true 
range and sent a straight shot at the Terror, rak- 
ino[ her fore and aft. Wounded by this shot, the 
Terror checked her desperate dash, and turned 
for safety ; but as she did so, her broadside was 
exposed, and a keen-eyed gunner on the St. Paul, 
seeing his chance, let fly a five-inch shot, so cor- 
rectly aimed that it tore its way into the Terror s 
engine-room, disabling her completely, and punc- 
turing her hull so badly that if the Spanish cruiser 
had not grappled and towed her inshore she 
would have sunk at once in wreck. 

" I will sink the St. Pa?tl or be sunk in the 
attempt," said the captain of the Terror, as he 
rushed to destroy the American. 

" Well, sir," commented one of the St. PauTs 
men, " that Dago skipper came pretty near get- 



TiiK Tiiixcs THAT ina.iM'n 307 

tiiiLJ' one t)f the thiiiLTs he wa.s lookiiiLr for." What 
with Sigsbee strikini^- at the Tcrroi\ and W'ain- 
wriglit destroying the Phi ton. the former ca})tain 
and executive officer of the ill-fated Maine took grim 
toll for damages from the ships of S])ain. In both 
cases, memory was one of the thin<'s that heliJed. 

Hut if memory helped, so, too, did sleejiless, 
secret vigilance. None know how important in 
any war is the detective work performed by that 
department known as the Secret Service. Its 
asrents work silentlv and all unknow n ; its heroes 
fall unnoticed and misunderstood; but upon its 
watclifulness and shrewdness much of the final 
victory depends. 

It was so in the war with Spain. The agents 
of the Secret Service were everywhere; in Cuba, 
plotting with the insurgents; in Porto Rico, look- 
ins: ONcr the oround ; in distant Hone: Kone; and 
Manila, studying the secrets of Spain ; even in 
Spain itself, noting alike the political and military 
moves of the hostile nation ; locating and sketeh- 
ino; its defences; followinir the movements of Cer- 
vera's fleet before it sailed from Cadiz, and of 
Camara's fleet as it sailed through the Mediter- 
ranean to "slay" Dewey, only to be stopped and 
turned back useless at Suez. 



308 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

You have seen bow Lieutenant Rowan at the 
peril of his life penetrated the jungles, and cross- 
ino" Spanish lines communicated with Garcia and 
his men; so, too, later in the war, did Lieutenant 
Victor Blue of the Suwancc, at the imminent peril 
of his life, land from the fleet blockading Santiago, 
penetrate to the insurgent camp, and with but 
three Cuban guides climb the hills within the 
Spanish lines, and actually see for himself and 
for the admiral that Cervera's fleet really did lie 
in the harbor of Santiago. Two weeks later he 
repeated this hazardous attempt, actually stealing 
his way within the intrenched Spanish lines, and 
again locating and noting the position of the cor- 
nered squadron. 

In reporting the moves of the Spanish agents 
in Canada, in unmasking and undoing the French 
blockade-runner Lafayette, even after it had made 
the harbor of Havana, and in a thousand un- 
heralded and unknown exploits of inestimable value 
to American success, did the perfectly organized 
Secret Service do valiant and helpful work. 

Another valuable adjunct of the army and the 
navy in their work of war was the Signal Corps. 
Their work was diflicult and dangerous. From 
" wio--wagging " the fleet from shore, or aiding the 



Tin: riiiNcis riiAr 111:1, ii;ij 309 

brave sionalnicn in the face of a killiiii;' Spanish 
fire at CiiiaiUananio, tu Nlrelcliiiii' telcplionc lines 
from ramp to heackiuarters at Sil^oney and Sevila 
and to tile front at Santiago, and navigating a 
\\ar-l3all00n above the liostile lines, the duties of 
the Signal Corps were deHcate, hazardous, and 
intricate. 

" Its operations during the war," said the Presi- 
dent in his report, "co\'ered the electrical connec- 
tion of all coast fortifications, the establishment of 
telephonic and telegraphic facilities for the camps 
at Manila, Santiago, and in Porto Rico. There 
were constructed three hundred miles of line at ten 
great camps, thus facilitating military movements 
from these points in a manner heretofore unknown 
in militar)' administration. Meld telegraph lines 
were established and maintained under the enemy's 
fire at ^hlnila and later the Manila- Honi^ Koncj 
cable was reopened. In Porto Rico cable commu- 
nications were opened over a discontinued route, 
and on land the headquarters of the commanding 
officer were kei)t in telegraphic or telej^honic com- 
numicaliun with the division commanders on four 
different lines of operations. There was placed in 
Cuban waters a conii)letely outfitted cable >hip, 
with war cables and cable gear, suitable both for 



3IO 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



the destruction of communications belonging to the 
enemy and the estabhshment of our own. Two 
ocean cables were destroyed under the enemy's 
batteries at Santiago. The day previous to the 
landing of General Shafter's corps at Caimanera, 
within twenty miles of the landing place, cable 



X' 








Jl^ ft 


^ -^ 




. ?^y|^HKg^^^H 




■ 


^ ''J^^^^^^^^^^^^^K 


^j^J^^^HH 


1 


^^H^ l^v '^M^^^^^^^^^^B 


ij3^B 



"taking his quinine." 

(How the hospital service helped.) 

communications were established and a cable sta- 
tion opened, giving direct communication with the 
government at Washington. This service was in- 
valuable to the executive in directing the operations 
of the army and navy. With a total force of over 
thirteen hundred the loss by disease in camp and 
field, officers and men included, was only five." 



Tirr: tiiint;s tfiat iffii^fd 311 

Brave fellows were those Signal Corps men. 
They were, so General Grcely, the chief signal 
ofheer, declares, " the flower of the \()lunteer arniy." 
Their leaders were, he says, "highly trained 
t)t1icers in the iDrime of life, thorouohly skilled in 
the specialties of the corps, not only admirably 
fitted for administrative duties, but also capable of 
arduous campaigning. Not one of these officers 
was either invalided or obliged to quit his duties 
during the war, though they served at Santiago, in 
Porto Rico, and at Manila." As to the enlisted 
men, they could challenge. General Greely asserts, 
" any other corps or branch of the army to produce 
their equal for ability, intelligence, and amenability 
to discipline. Their service was uniformly marked 
by cheerfulness, zeal, and good conduct, and was 
characterized by that resourcefulness which is an 
especial characteristic of the tvpical American 
soldier." 

Thanks to the vSignal Corps, General Shafter 
at headquarters was in direct communication by 
telephone with his subordinate commanders, and 
these lines, General Greely reports, " were uninter- 
ruptedly maintained under the fire and during the 
progress of battle " uj) to within four hundred yards 
of the enemy and twenty-four hours in the day; 



312 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

besides communicating with Admiral Sampson 
through a telephone stationed near Aguadores. 
General Shafter in twenty minutes could get a 
message to President McKinley or a reply from 
him, and in twenty seconds could communicate 
with his right, centre, and left. And at Manila, 
when the final assault came, so General Greely tells 
the nation, "one company of the Signal Corps 
ran the field telegraph line up to the open beach 
and established an advanced station under fire of 
the enemy's second line. Another party, led by 
Captain McKenna, marched up the beach with 
the firing line, their signal flags displayed so that 
the fire of the navy should fall in advance of the 
army, and, displaying these flags as the first em- 
blems of the United States in the enemy's fort, 
established an advanced telegraph station under 
the fire of the enemy's second line and maintained 
communication with both wings of the army until 
the enemy's positions were carried." 

Certainly, as brave as it is marvellous, is the 
method and equipment of the modern fighting 
man ! 

Other things helped. The mule, patient, ma- 
ligned, ill-used, over-loaded, and unlovely beast of 
burden as he is, was in his humble way almost the 



nil': niiNcs riiAr iii:Li"i:i) 313 

salvation of the army at the front. wIkii heavy 
niihtar\- waj^ons conld not tra\cl the broken, 
watery roads, and the nuile with liis paek, i)assing 
ceaseless! V in single file, was the onl\' means of 
keeping up open and eontinuous eonmiunication 
with the distant base of supplies. 

The teamster hel])ed, sometimes almost heroically, 
as when "in the bloody San Juan"" one held his 
team still under fire, because he had been told that 
the boys would need supplies or ammunition at 
the front, and he mu.st be on hand to take them; 
and in the terrible nioht ride of the wounded to 
the hospitals at the rear, after the fight at San 
Juan, so Mr. Bonsall says, " 1 did not see a single 
instance of negligence or carelessness on the part 
of the teamsters and the hospital attendants who 
were in charge of the melancholy train." And 
this was in full ramre of the witherin«'-, unnervinci: 
Spanish fire in the gloom of the night. 

The hospital service — that dreadful necessity in 
war — was also a mighty helper, — alas! too sadly 
needed for the sick in canij) rather than foi- those 
hurt in war. At the front were field hospitals; 
there were the ho>pilal ships, Olivette and Solace 
and Bay State ; at the camps of concentration there 
were the usual camp hospital.^ ; while at other points, 



314 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

in anticipation of possible need, general hospitals 
were established — at Key West, Florida; at Fort 
McPherson, Georgia; at Fort Thomas, Kentucky; 
at Chickamauga and Fortress Monroe and Fort 
Myer; while in order to transport the sick and 
I wounded from the front to these hospitals what 
may be called the greater ambulance service was 
organized. " This consisted," says Dr. Dunham, 
" of several hospital ships, carefully and thoroughly 
equipped, fitted with medical supplies, and carrying 
surgeons and nurses, which were designed to ply 
between Cuba or Porto Rico and Key West, 
Tampa, or other coast cities. For distribution 
from Tampa a hospital train was provided, con- 
sisting of ten sleeping-cars and a dining-car, which 
made numerous trips between that port and various 
inland hospitals." 

So, in many ways and through many departments 
of assistance and relief, of information, intelligence, 
and preparation, were there numberless things that 
helped on to success besides the valor of the soldier 
and the sailor. But they all served as contributors 
to the soldier's and sailor's success ; for, as every one 
knows, the fighting man is in war the all-important 
personage; and while, in every branch of service, 
there are brave, self-sacrificing, heroic, and noble 



Till-: iiiiNcis iiLvr iii:i.i"i::i) 



3'5 



men and wonu'n, — Irom iIkoc who, at homr oi' in 
the hcUl, ()rL;ani/.c toi" a^si.slanc c and rcHcf, to 
those wlio sonnd the buL;le, or cook tlie rations, 
or "stoke" tlie fnrnace, — after all. the interest and 




SUPPLIES FOR THE CA.Ml'. 
(A snap-shot at Montauk.) 

svmi)at]iv, and entlnisiasm and applause, of the 
nation are ^ixen to those who are cared tor and 
strengthened 13V the tilings that help — the soldier 
and sailor of the rejHiblic fighting in Cuba, or 



3i6 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Porto Rico, or far-distant Manila, that tlie word 
of the United States of America may be kept 
unbroken and humanity be estabhshed even at a 
fearful cost of life and treasure. For, in the grand 
result, humanity and progress will be the things 
that count, and in their service not a dollar nor 
a life will be found to have been spent in vain. 



CHAPTER X\TI 

HOW TlIK WAR KN'nKD 

'^ ^ r } 1 l^X the >]ii])s of Ccrvcra's fleet WLMit down 
> » ill (lot ruction on the Cuban coast and 
the Stars and Stripes streamed out in victory above 
the red-tiled roofs and yellow walls of ca])turcd 
Santiago, e\en Spain knew that the time had 
come to cry " Enough ! " Spanisli honor, wliich 
migiit have been saved by the evacuation and 
abandonment of Cuba, now confessed itself ap- 
peased only when, as a sacrifice to its excellent 
but uncertain demands, it had lost two lleets, two 
armies, and ]:)ossession and sovereigntv both in 
the Atlantic and the Pacific. We honor the 
brave, but we criticise the obstinate. One who 
reads Spani>h history and Spanish romance can 
see how impo>.sible it is for Don Quixote to plav 
the i^art of the Cifl Camj)cador. 

On the very day that General Miles began his 
invasion of Porto Rico by the advance on Ponce, 
the twenty-sixth of July, 1898, the Spanish Min- 

3»7 



3i8 



OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 



ister of State at Madrid requested the French 
ambassador at Washington — there being no offi- 
cial representative of Spain in America — to ask 
the United States upon what terms peace could 
be arranged. The government of the United 
States at once made its reply, and on the seventh 




SANTIAGO HARBOR AND THE MORRO. 

(The wreck of the Ke'tiia Mercedes sunk by a shot from the fleet on July 6; 
this ship received Hobson as a prisoner from Cervera, and has now been 
raised and saved.) 

of August Spain, through the French ambassador, 
accepted some of the demands of the United 
States unconditionally, but tried to modify others. 
The United States could not consent to these 
uncertain modifications, but the President di- 
rected that a preliminary paper or protocol, as it 



now iiu; WAK i:m)i:i) 3'9 

is called, should be drawn up staling- the terms 
upon which tlie rnited Slates would make peace 
with S])aiu. 

The terms of this protocol were as follows: first, 
that Spain should leave Cuba; second, that Spain 
should t;ive up to the United States Porto Rico 
and other West India islands, and also " an island 
in the Ladrones to be selected by the United 
States" — that meant Guam, of course; third, that 
Spain relinquish to the United States the tempo- 
rary possession of the city, bay, and harbor of 
Manila, until the final treaty of peace should de- 
cide as to the disposition and control of the Philip- 
pines ; fourth, that commissioners appointed by 
the United States and Spain should meet at once 
in Havana and San Juan, to arrange for and carry 
out the evacuation of the West Indies by Spain ; 
fifth, that five American and five Spanish commis- 
sioners should be selected to meet in Paris, and 
draw up a definite treaty of peace ; sixth, that upon 
the sisjnimr of this protocol, hostilities between 
Spain and the United States should be suspended. 

This protocol showed the extent and emphasis 
of the American demands, and told Spain also 
what the war was to cost her in loss of prestige 
and possession. She would have hesitated, ob- 



320 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

jected, and delayed, but American vigor opposed 
Spanish procrastination, and, with Yankee fleets 
and Yankee armies ready to enforce the American 
demands, the Spanish government yielded, and, on 
the twelfth of August, 189S, the protocol was 
signed in Washington by the Secretary of State 
for the United States, and the ambassador of 
France in behalf of Spain. 

On that very day, August 21, the President 
issued his proclamation suspending hostilities, and 
the news sped over the telegraph wires to wdiere- 
ever in all the w^orld the Spaniard and the Ameri- 
can faced each other in fight. 

If we agree to the accepted date and count the 
war to have begun at noon on April 12, it had 
lasted, up to the signing of the protocol on August 
12, just one hundred and thirteen days. It had 
been a brief but a vigorous war. It had cost Spain 
two fleets and an army, while in Cuba and Porto 
Rico and the Philippines three other armies were 
cornered and practically conquered. W^ith no help 
to be expected from her European neighbors, and 
no way to reenforce her garrisons and armies in 
her Atlantic or her Pacific colonies, there was but 
one alternative for Spain — surrender; and that 
she accepted. 



iKnv 'nii: war i:xi)i:i) 



321 



You ha\c seen liow the news of peace came to 
our soldiers in Cul)a and Porto Rico. It came in 
due time, as fast as the despatch boat from I long 
Konq; could carry it, to our \ ictorious soldiers 
and sailors in distant Manila, and it came, bring- 
injj varied emotions, to the irreat army of reserves 




URlDGli ON Till-: KL CANEV K(^A1J. 
(Spanning a creek on tlio way from Santiago.) 

held for possible necessities in camps throughout 
the South. Those boys of the reserves, though 
never called upon to leave their home land for 
service on foreign shores, were yet as patriotic in 
their purposes and as worthy of praise and appre- 
ciation as were the heroes who rushed the lines at 
El Caney and stormed the heights of San Juan, 



322 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

or, who, on the far-off Asiatic beach, swarmed 
over the ramparts of the conquered Malate fort. 

As the news of the suspension of hostihties sped 
over land and sea, the rigors of war at once relaxed. 
The armies of invasion stacked their guns and 
awaited orders ; the blockade of Cuban and Porto 
Rican shores was raised, and in less than a week 
after the signing of the protocol the armies began 
to disband. On the eighteenth of August nearly 
one hundred thousand volunteers were ordered to 
be mustered out of service, and before the close 
of the year nearly one-half of the two hundred 
and fifty thousand soldiers called for had been dis- 
charged and returned to private life with the thanks 
and approval of the President at whose call they 
had rushed to arms and of the country whose 
interests they had so nobly volunteered to defend. 

"It is fitting," said President McKinley, "that 
I should bear testimony to the patriotism and 
devotion of that large portion of our army which, 
although eager to be ordered to the post of great- 
est exposure, fortunately was not required outside 
of the United States. They did their whole duty, 
and like their comrades at the front have earned 
the gratitude of the nation. In like manner the 
ofHcers and men of the army and of the navy 



HOW THK WAR P:NI)ED 3^3 

who remained in llieir departments and stations 
faithfully performini; most important duties con- 
nected witli the war, and whose requests for as- 
sig-nmcnt in the field and at sea I was compelled 
to refuse because tlieir services were indispen- 
sable here, are entitled to the highest commenda- 
tion." Indeed, it is true that, as Milton says in 
his noblest sonnet: — 

"They also serve who only staml and wait." 

When the first note of peace came to the boys 
in the trenches and the camps before Santiago, 
sickness, that deadliest ally of war, had already 
laid its cruel and relentless hand upon the Ameri- 
can army. The peril of a Cuban summer, greater 
than that of Mauser bullet and rapid-firing gun, 
had commenced its enervating work. 

When General Shafter had been ordered to 
Cuba for a " quick campaign," he had reckoned 
upon this risk of sickness ; for typhoid, malaria, 
and "yellow Jack" are the surest of all o})ponents 
to the tropical invasion. History had proved this, 
at Cartao^ena, in San Domins^o, and Havana loni^: 
years before. " Let the Yankees come," (ieneral 
Weyler, the Spaniard, said. *' We won't need to 
fight them ; fever will do our work for us." 



324 OUR WAR WrrH SPAIN 




IX SANTIAGO. 

(A street corner and watering place near the cathedral.) 

It seemed, after the excitement of surrender 
and of peace proposals had relaxed, that " Gen- 
eral W^eyler s ally " was to undo the victories 
and weaken the protocol of the triumphant Amer- 
icans. Even before the destruction of Cervera's 
fleet, while yet the Americans held the heights 
they had stormed, the foe that none may fight 
had stolen into the camp of the conquerors. And 
after the victories still it came unbidden. 

" The sickness among the troops," says Gen- 
eral Shafter, "was increasing every day." Fever 
was in the American lines, and in the absence of 
sufficient medicine, good food, and adequate hos- 
pital service the trouble grew until alike the gen- 



HOW THE WAR ENDED 325 

eral and his officers saw that salvation meant 
immediate action. They so notified tlie War De- 
partment, and as speedily as ])ossible the army in 
Cuba was sent norlli, where, in llie health-Lrivinir 
breezes of Camp W'ikoff, amid the sand-dunes of 
Montauk Point, health and stren<rth slowlv re- 
turned to the heroes of Santiago. 

Hut not alone on Cuban heroes did fever lay 
its hand. The hateful touch fell also on every 
southern camp where northern boys, cared for by 
inexperience, and too often heedless of conse- 
quences, wilted beneath the strength-destroying 
clutch of typhoid and malaria. For three hun- 
dred men slain in battle, three thousand died in 
camp from fever and its kindred diseases. Wher- 
ever responsibility rests for this death-roll and for 
the sapping of strength which, in thousands of 
unreported cases, will linger in the blood through 
many a 3ear, it is certain that the experience, 
though dearly bought, will not have been in vain, 
and that future campaigns in tropical lands — 
should such ever occur — will be better arrans^ed 
for in the start, and more wiselv conducted in 
details. 

" One of the lessons taught by the war," says 
the report of the commission appointed to inves- 



326 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

tigate the conduct of the War Department, " is 
that the country should hereafter be in a better 
state of preparation for war. Suggestions have 
been made that large supplies of all material not 
liable to deterioration should be kept on hand to 
be continuously issued and renewed, so that in 
any emergency they might be available. Espe- 
cially should this be the case with such supplies 
as cannot be rapidly obtained in open market." 

It was in transportation and supplies that the 
conduct of the war was especially lacking, while 
bad food is the worst of all evils ; but should 
occasion again arise, no such deficiencies can be 
repeated if but the republic, without seeking to 
find a scapegoat for mismanagement, makes mis- 
management impossible by a combination of the 
long-discussed "preparedness" and the recollection 
that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" — 
and of success, as well. 

But outside the doleful record of illness and dis- 
ease — less in proportion in this war than in any 
other of ancient or modern times — our "casualty 
roll " of the war with Spain in 1898 is peculiarly 
gratifying in its modesty. The total of these casu- 
alties was: Oflficers killed, 23; enlisted men, 257; 
total, 280; ofHcers wounded, 113; enlisted men 



HOW 'IHi: WAR lADIJ) 



327 



wounded, 1464; total, 1577. Of the navy: Killed, 
17; wounded, 67; died as result of wounds, i; 
invalided from service, 6; total, 91 — a total of 
less than se\enteen hundred men. 




AT MONTALK. 
("Surgeon's call" on the sick boys at Camp WikofT.) 

" It will be observed," savs the President in his 
sumniinu; \\\). "that while our na\-y was en^rai^ed in 
two great battles and in numerous perilous un- 
dertakings in blockade and bombardment, and more 



328 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

than fifty thousand of our troops were transported 
to distant lands, and were engaged in assault and 
siege and battle and many skirmishes in unfamiliar 
territory, we lost in both arms of the service a total 
of 1668 killed and wounded, and in the entire 
campaign by land and sea we did not lose a gun, 
or a fiag, or a transport, or a ship, and with the 
exception of the crew of the Merrimac, not a sol- 
dier or sailor was taken prisoner. On August 7, 
forty-six days from the date of the landing of Gen- 
eral Shafters army in Cuba, and twenty-one days 
from the surrender of Santiago, the United States 
troops commenced embarkation for home, and our 
entire force was returned to the United States as 
early as August 24. They were absent from the 
United States only two months." 

On the ninth of September the President named 
the five members of the Peace Commission ; the 
next day the Spanish government selected its five 
representatives, and the first business meeting of 
the joint Peace Commission was held in Paris on 
the first day of October. For two months the 
terms of the treaty were proposed, gone over, dis- 
cussed, combated, declined, or accepted, in true 
diplomatic manner, while America chafed and 
fretted over what it deemed red tape and unnec- 



now 1111. WAR l.NKI.l) 329 

essarv dchu'. Puit (li|)l()niacy was never liasly, 
and Spain yielded small points slowly. 

At lenL;lh, however, it xielded conipleteK'. ( )n 
November 2S Spain accepted the terms of the 
United States, which were those embodied in the 
original protocol of August 12. l^y the treaty 
Spain agreed to cede the Philippines to the United 
States uj)on a pavment of twenty millions of dollars 
as "reimbursement for insular expenses"; also to 
cede to the United States Porto Rico, a few small 
West Indian islands, and Guam in the Ladrone 
group ; and, finally, to abdicate its sovereignty in 
Cuba. 

For this last clause the United States had sone 
to war with Spain ; for it her fleets had sailed, 
her armies marched, battles by sea and land had 
been fought and won, and when, on the tenth of 
December, the treatv was sio;ned at Paris b\- the 
commis>ioner> of Spain and the United States, 
the cause for which the war was fought was won. 
Cuba was liberated ; humanity had conquered ; 
oppression was driven from the American conti- 
nent. 

On the twelfth of December American troops 
marched through the streets of Mawana : on the 
sixteenth I^'itzhugh Lee. the vigilant consul-Lreneral 



330 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

who had stood to the last for humanity and Ameri- 
can rights, returned in triumph at tlie head of his 
soldiers to the city that had driven him out ; on the 
twenty-eighth Cuba was evacuated by the Spanish 
troops, returned to their homes at America's ex- 
pense ; and on the first day of January, 1899, the 
Stars and Stripes floated in occupation above the 
palace of the governor-general in Havana, and 
America assumed temporary sovereignty in Cuba, 
to give it up to the Cubans themselves as agreed, 
when the Cubans themselves proved ready for 
stable self-government. Four hundred years of op- 
pression were brought to a glorious end; Cuba was 
liberated ; the Maine was avenged. 

The treaty of peace went to the Senate for 
ratification ; for, according to our Constitution, 
the Senate must pass upon and approve every 
such important document before the President 
affixes his signature. For days it stayed there 
under discussion, as arguments for or against it 
w^ere made by senators, patriotic Americans all, 
but divided as the burdens of the future, growing 
from success, rose before them. 

The main questions as to Cuban adjustment 
seemed to be lost in the more serious one of the 
occupation and disposition of the Philippines; for, 



HOW Tin; \\.\K ENDED 331 

after tlie surrender of ^^a^ila, the native Filij^inos, 
k(l l)y llicir eliici .spirit, At^uinaldo, were (lis})lay- 
ini;- a hostility to AiiKTiean jDossession tliat grew 
more threatening as the ratifieation of the treaty 
was delayed. 

The administration took the ground that, as 
our dealings had been with Spain, whom we had 
dispossessed, we had no right or reason to recog- 
nize and }ield to the I'^ilipinos, or even to con- 
sider their claims, until tlie island had been pacified, 
and Congress, when the treaty with Spain had 
been ratified, decided upon our future action. 

Our success in the Philij^pines, as I have al- 
ready told you, brouLrht us face to face with a 
duty that was a difificulty. This duty we could 
not escape; its responsibilities we could not 
shirk. We were confronting " not a theor\- but a 
condition." Every American, exercising his free 
prerogative, could criticise or advise. But one 
thin''' was certain: until the treaty was ratified 
we could not act. As the President e.\])lained, "we 
could not discharge the responsibilities upon us 
until these islands became ours cither by con- 
quest or treaty; there was but oik' alternative, and 
that was either Spain or the L'nited States in the 
PhilijDpines." 



332 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

« 

So an army and navy waited for the action of 
the Senate. At last, on Monday, the sixth of Feb- 
ruary, 1899, the decisive vote came and the treaty 
with Spain was ratified by a vote of fifty-seven to 
twenty-nine. The President signed the important 
document, and the war with Spain was ended. 

The very day before the ratification, on Sun- 
day, the fifth of February, the insurgent army 
around Manila made an unprovoked attack upon 
the American troops. A series of battles ensued 
in which once again the valor of the American 
soldier, directed by the genius of General Otis, 
and the watchfulness of the American navy still 
marshalled by the cool-headed Admiral Dewey, 
came out victorious, and the misguided and ill- 
advised Filipinos were defeated again and again. 

Sympathy for a people struggling for inde- 
pendence is an American trait; for through 
blood and tears did America battle for and win 
her priceless boon of liberty. But until peace and 
order had been secured in the Philippines, as in 
Cuba, we could not yield to unwise demands nor 
recognize an unstable authority. The contest with 
Spain w^as not for aggrandizement or empire ; it 
was for humanity, and no consent is needed to 
perform an act of humanity. 



HOW THK WAR ENDED 333 

The wise President who, against liis will, had 
chosen the stern arbitrament of war, himself 
has solenml)- declared that "the Philippines, like 
Cuba and I\)rto Rico, were intrusted to our 
hands by the war, and to that great trust, under 
the providence of God and in the name of hu- 
man progress and civilization, we are committed. 
It is a trust we have not sought; it is a trust 
from which we will not liinch." 

" That the inhabitants of the Philippines," he 
said, " will be benefited by this republic is my 
unshaken belief. That they will have a kindlier 
government under our guidance and that they 
will be aided in every possible way to be a self- 
respecting and self-governing people is as true 
as that the American people love liberty and 
have an abidinsf faith in their own institutions. 

" No imperial designs lurk in the American 
mind. They are alien to American sentiment, 
thought, and purpose. Our priceless principles 
undergo no change under a tropical sun. They 
go with the flag. They are wrought in every 
one of its sacred folds, and are indistinguishable 
as its shinino' stars. 

" ' Why read ye not the changeless truth, 
The free can comjuer but to save.' " 



334 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

The free have conquered, and the free will 
save : Cuba and the Philippines will be regener- 
ated in spite of themselves, and the blood of our 
heroes will not have flowed in vain. The work 
of Waring and of Wood, the martyr and the hero 
alike of peace and war, will work grand results, 
and cleanliness, which is next to godliness, will 
restore the fever-ridden island to its original health- 
fulness and fertility. This redemption, however, 
may not be accomplished speedily or in the peace- 
ful way we desire. But it will surely be accom- 
plished, and, as the President said : — 

" If we can benefit these remote peoples, who 
will object ? If, in the years of the future, they 
are established in government under law and lib- 
erty, who will regret our perils and sacrifices ? 
Who will not rejoice in our heroism and human- 
ity ? Always perils, and always after them safety ; 
always darkness and clouds, but always shining 
through them the light and the sunshine ; always 
cost and sacrifice, but always after them the 
fruition of liberty, education, and civilization." 

So our war with Spain, which began because 
of duty, ends with an even greater duty; a war 
begun in the cause of humanity to answer a bit- 
ter cry for help too long ignored, ends in a prob- 



llcnv llli; \\.\k KNDED 335 

Icm from wliich the doubter aiul IIk' alarmist 
would shrink, but which the true American will 
boldlv face — the problem of how America shall 
act in the opportunity for progress and for the 
widcnino- of her circles of influence and civiliza- 
tion in the world. Our fathers never shirked 
responsibility; shall their sons fear to face the 
future boldly and bravely ? Listen to the Kng- 
lishman's advice, born of generations of such 
responsibility, — Kipling, the latest laureate of the 
Anglo-Saxon : — 

"Take up tlie White Man's burden — 

Have done with childish days — 
The lightly proffered laurel, 

The easy, ungrudged praise ; 
Conies now to search your manhood 

Through all the thankless years, 
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom, 

The judgment of your peers." 

We can meet the "judgment of our peers" 
unfalteringly. Despite shortcomings, unprepared- 
ness, and needless distress, we won our victory 
and liberated a people. War is always dej^lorable, 
and this war was no exception. It cost Amer- 
ica millions of money and thousands of brave 
lives ; it cost sickness and suffering and sorrow. 
But, as Professor Williams gloriously sums it up, 



336 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

" All priceless things cost something. Civiliza- 
tion has cost something. Christianity cost some- 
thing. Let us have done with carping! No war 
in all history, measured in proportion to its mag- 
nificent results, — if we would but see them, — 
cost so little as the Spanish war of 1898. No 
such great stage in the development of the human 
race has cost so little in life and suffering." 

It has brought us a higher manhood ; it has 
given us a wider charity and a nobler sense of 
brotherhood. It has united the North and South ; 
it has brought closer together the East and West. 
It has drawn the Anglo-Saxon kin on both sides 
the sea nearer to each other, and has secured one 
more triumph in the long, long struggle of liberty 
against oppression. It has compelled admiration 
for American valor on land and on sea, and 
advanced the flag for which Washington fought 
and Webster pleaded and Lincoln died ; it has 
made Americans proud of their glorious birthright 
and has given a new and nobler meaning to the 
splendid and passionate appeal for " Liberty and 
Union, now and forever, one and inseparable ! " 



THE STORY OF 

OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

CHR ONOL OGICALLY TOLD 

[1895-1899] 



THE CHRONOLOGICAL STORY OF 
OUR WAR WITH SPALN 

From the Outbreak of the Rebellion to the Treaty 

OF Peace 



(Reprinted by permission of the Boston Transcript^ 



1895. 

February 24. — Insurrection breaks out in three of Cuba's six 
provinces. 

March 31. — General Antonio Maceo proclaimed commander 
of the insurgent army. 

April 14. — Captain-General Cajelia displaced by Campos. 

November 17. — General Maceo, near Santa Clara, with igco 
men defeats 2800 Spanish troops. 

1896. 

February to. — Weyler displaces Captain-General Campos. 

February 12. — Eighteen thousand new Spanish troops sent 
into the field. 

February 17. — Weyler issues his reconcentrado i)roclamations. 

March i. — The trocha is established. 

April II. — Maceo crosses the trocha with 3000 men and drives 
back the Spanish. 

339 



340 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

October i. — The rebellion up to this time has cost Spain 
^230,000,000. 

December 4. — General Antonio Maceo killed by treachery. 
December 10. — General Ruiz Rivera succeeds Maceo. 

1897. 

August 8. — Premier Canovas of Spain assassinated. 

October 2. — Weyler recalled by the Sagasta liberal ministry on 
pressure from the United States. 

November 27. — Decree from government at Madrid granting 
autonomy to Cuba. 

1898. 

January 24. — United States battleship Maine ordered to Havana 
on a peaceful mission. 

February 10. — De Lome, Spanish minister, recalled for un- 
warranted personahties reflecting on President McKinley, 

February 15. — The destruction of the Maine in the harbor of 
Havana was the first and great catastrophe experienced by the 
United States in all her dealings with Spain. At twenty minutes 
before 10 o'clock in the evening, an explosion occurred, by which 
the entire forward part of the vessel was destroyed. Two officers 
and 264 of the crew perished, those who were not killed outright 
by the explosion being pinned between decks by the tangle of 
wreckage and drowned by the immediate sinking of the hull. The 
days which followed were days of anxious suspense. A wave of 
indignation swept over the length and breadth of the land. Cap- 
tain Sigsbee's message asking that judgment be suspended did 
not altogether reassure the people. A great cry for vengeance 
arose. The more impressionable openly criticised the Presi- 
dent's calmness. 

February 17. — The following officers were appointed to investi- 
gate the cause of the Maine disaster : Captain W. T. Sampson of 
the Iowa, president; Captain F. E. Chadwick of the New York; 



ClIROXOLOCHCALLV TOI.I) 34' 

Lieutenant-Commander W. V. IVjlter of the JVtnv York, with 

Lieutenant-Commander Adolf Marix of the Vermonl, as recorders. 

February i8. — Spanish cruiser I'izcaya arrives at New York./ 

February 19. — Spain's request for a joint investigation of the 

Maine affair refused. / 

March 9. — Congress passes the $50,000,000 national defence 

bill. 

March 16. — The remonstrance of the Spanish government 
against our measures of defence and the presence of our fleet at 
Key West was received. 

March 28. — President McKinley sent to Congress the report 
of the United States Board of Inquiry. This document was dated 
March 21, and contained the information that the Maine had been 
destroyed through the agency of a submarine mine. It did not fix 
the blame. 

April 7. — Diplomatic representatives of Germany, Austria- 
Hungary, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia presented a joint 
communication to President McKinley on behalf of the European 
Powers, in which was expressed a hope that affairs between the 
United States and Spain would be amicably adjusted. President 
McKinley's reply, couched in conciliatory language, was rather 
negative in its import. 

April 9. — Consul-General Lee and other Americans leave Cuba. 

April II. — The President sends a message to Congress recom- 
mending armed intervention in Cuba. 

April 15. — War Department orders regular troops to the coast. 

April 16. — The intervention resolution passed by the Senate. 

April 19. — The President prepares an ultimatum to Spain 
demanding the evacuation of Cuba within three days. 

April 20. — The Cuban resolutions signed by the President. 

April 20. — The United States government sent its ultimatum 
to Spain. The demand was made that Spain should, before the 
hour of noon of April 23, withdraw her forces from Cuba. Sefior 



342 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

Bernabe, the Spanish minister, at once requested his passports 
and started immediately for Canada. In Madrid the Cortes con- 
vened, and the Queen Regent deUvered an address, appeaUng to 
the Spanish people to defend their rights. 

April 21. — General Woodford, United States minister to Madrid, 
given his passports. The United States held this severance of 
diplomatic relations to be a declaration of war. 

April 21. — Captain William T. Sampson made acting admiral 
of the North Atlantic squadron, with the cruiser New York as his 
flagship. 

April 2 2. — North Atlantic squadron sails to blockade Cuban 
ports. 

April 22. — First shot fired, when the United States gunboat 
Nashville captured the Spanish Gulf steamer Buena Ventura. 

April 2 2. — President's proclamation to all nations declaring the 
blockade of Cuban ports. 

April 23. — The President's call issued for 125,000 volunteers. 

April 26. — President's proclamation issues on Spanish vessels 
in United States ports. 

April 27. — Asiatic squadron sails from Mirs Bay (having been 
ordered from Hong Kong by Great Britain in compHance with 
neutrality law) to meet the Spanish fleet at the Philippine Islands. 

April 27. — First hostile shot of the war : United States cruisers 
Neiv York and Cinciima/i and monitor Puritan silence the bat- 
teries at Matanzas. 

April 29. — Spanish fleet left Cape Verde Islands, being Spain's 
first move against the United States. 

May I . — This day witnessed the greatest naval victory in the 
history of the world. The people of the United States were elec- 
trified by the news that the entire Spanish fleet commanded by 
Admiral Montojo had been destroyed by Commodore Dewey in Ma- 
nila Bay, and that the feat had been accomphshed without serious 
injury to any of our ships and no loss of life on the American side. 



CHRONOLOGICALI.V TOM) 343 

May 2, — Congress appropriated J^35,7-">945 ^'^^ ^'^<-' ^^my of 
invasion. 

Iv[ay 2. — Naval bill for tliirty-five new warships sent to the 
President for signature. 

May 7. — Commodore Dewey's report on battle of Manila re- 
ceived. Eleven Spanish warships destroyed, and no Americans 
killed. 

]\Iay 7. — The President in the name of the American people 
congratulates Commodore Dewey. 

May 9. — Commodore Dewey is made rear-admiral. 

May II. — P>nsign Bagley and four men on gunboat ]]'i>is/ow 
killed in engagement off Cardenas. 

May 12. — Admiral Sampson's fleet shells forts and land bat- 
teries at San Juan, Porto Rico. 

May 17. — United States establishes censorship on press de- 
spatches. 

May 18. — A new Spanish cabinet is formed. 

May 20. — Secretary Long officially confirms report of Spanish 
fleet off Santiago de Cuba. 

May 21. — General Merritt sails for Manila. 

May 25. — President calls for 75,000 more volunteers. 

May 26.— Battleship Oregon arrives at Key West after a cruise 
of 1 7,499 miles from San Francisco, a most notable feat. 

May 29. — Commodore Schley locates Cervera at Santiago. 

June I. — Admiral Sampson relieves Commodore Schley at 
Santiago. 

June 3. — Lieutenant Hobson and his men sink the Merrimac 
near the channel at Santiago. 

June 4. — The Senate passed the war revenue bill. 

June 4. — Captain Gridley of the Olympia died in Kobe, Japan, 
on his way home. 

June 6. — American marines land at Aguadores and Daiciuiri. 

June 6. — Second bombardment of the forts at Santiago. 



344 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

June 6. — Insurgents take outer city of Manila and 18,000 
Spanish prisoners. 

June 7. — United States fleet bombards and destroys the forti- 
fications at Caimanera. 

June 7. — The Monterey sails from San Francisco to Manila. 

June 9. — Fortifications at Guantanamo Bay destroyed. 

June II. — American marines land at Guantanamo. 

June 12. — First battle of Guantanamo. Four American ma- 
rines killed. 

June 14. — General Shafter and army of 16,000 men sail from 
Tampa. 

June 15. — The second reUef expedition sails for the Philippines. 

June 22. — The St. Paul cripples the Terror off San Juan in 
Porto Rico. 

June 22. — General Shafter's army lands at Daiquiri. 

June 24. — Two thousand Spaniards attack one thousand Ameri- 
can Rough Riders and regulars. Spaniards repulsed. American 
loss, sixteen. 

June 27. — Commodore Watson's fleet ordered to prepare for 
expedition to the coast of Spain. 

June 27. — Admiral Camara's fleet at Port Said refused coal by 
the Egyptian government, 

June 28. — Third Manila expedition sails. 

June 30. — American troops move upon the city of Santiago. 

July 2. — The two most important engagements of the Cuban 
campaign fell upon this day, both being successful, although the 
American forces met with heavy losses. General Lawton's 
infantry stormed the hills of Caney, the Seventh, Twelfth, and 
Seventeenth infantry (General Chaffee's brigade) leading in the 
attack. In the taking of San Juan the unmounted cavalry, the 
First and Tenth regulars, and Roosevelt's Rough Riders bore 
the brunt of the fighting, again distinguishing themselves and 
adding fresh laurels to those already won at Las Guasimas. Our 



CHRONOLOGICALLY TOLD 345 

losses in these two engagements were 23 officers and 208 men 
killed and 81 officers and 1203 wounded. These figures are from 
General Shaffer's report. 

July 3. — .\dmiral Cervera's fleet destroyed by Commodore 
Schle}'. The Infanta Maria Teresa, Oquendo, and Vizcaya were 
forced ashore, burned, and blown up within twenty miles of Santi- 
ago. The Furor and Pluton were destroyed within four miles of 
port. Our loss, one killed and two wounded. Enemy's loss 
probably several hundred from gun fire, explosions, and drown- 
ing. About twelve hundred prisoners, including Admiral Cervera. 
The .Vmerican killed was G. H. Ellis, chief yeoman of the 
Brooklyn. 

July 3. — Guam of the Ladrone islands seized by the .Ameri- 
cans. 

July 4. — First relief expedition reaches .Admiral Dewey. 

July 6. — Spanish prisoners en route to Portsmouth, N.H., on 
the Harvard, mutiny and several are shot. 

July 7. — General Miles starts for Santiago — Lieutenant Hob- 
son and his men are exchanged. 

July 8. — Santiago given formal notice of twenty-four hours 
before bombardment. 

July 9. — .Ailmiral Camara's fleet returns through the Suez 
Canal to Spain. 

July 9. — Major-General Miles leaves with reenforcements for 
Santiago. 

July 10. — General Shaffer and .Admiral Sampson begin the 
bombardment of Santiago. 

July II. — Several deaths from yellow fever rei)ortc(l in the 
American camps. 

Julv IT. — .Armistice agreed for twenty-four hours at Santiago. 

July 12. — The Spanish cabinet resigns. 

July 14. — (General Toral formally surrendered Santiago and 
troops and garrison in eastern Cuba. 



346 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

July 15. — Commissioners agree on details of terms of sur- 
render. 

July 15. — General McKibbon named as temporary military 
governor of Santiago. 

July 16. — Garrison and city of Caimanera formally surrender. 

July 17. — With formal ceremonies the American flag is hoisted 
over the public buildings of Santiago. 

July 20. — Colonel Wood of the Rough Riders (United States 
First Volunteer Cavalry) made military governor of Santiago. 

July 20. — General Miles started from Guantanamo for Porto 
Rico with an army of invasion. 

July 20. — Underbidding a pool of American liners, the Com- 
pania Transatlantica Espanola obtained contracts for transporting 
Spanish prisoners home from Santiago. 

July 20. — Permanent annexation of Porto Rico announced as 
the policy of the Administration. 

July 20. — Spanish cabinet informed by Blanco that he did not 
authorize General Toral's surrender. 

July 25. — General Miles lands at Guanico, Porto Rico. 

July 26. — M. Jules Cambon, the French ambassador at Wash- 
ington, at the request of the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
conveyed to President McKinley a message which first opened the 
way to peace negotiations. A request was made for terms under 
which the United States would be willing to end the war. 

July 26. — Americans advance on Port Ponce. Spanish loss, 
three killed, twelve wounded. American loss, four wounded. 

July 27. — Port of Ponce invested. Seventy lighters captured. 

July 28. — City of Ponce and town of Port Ponce under Ameri- 
can military government. 

July 30. — The French ambassador, M. Cambon, asks for terms 
of peace. 

August I. — United States terms of peace received and con- 
sidered by cabinet in Madrid. 



CHRUNUJ.UUICALIA luLD 347 

August 3. — 'The President receives unofficial advices that Spain 
has accepted peace terms offered. 

August 4. — Three thousand Spanish troops attack Americans 
under General Greene intrenched near Manila and are repulsed 
with heavy loss. 

August 4. — General Shafter's army at Santiago receives orders 
to come north. 

August 6. — Madrid despatches say Spanish cabinet's agree- 
ment to peace conditions has been drafted and i)rcsented to the 
Queen Regent for approval. 

August 8-10. — General Miles's army continues its advance 
toward San Juan de Porto Rico, Spaniards offering but slight 
opposition. 

August II. — The Spanish government approved the protocol 
and cabled to M. Cambon, at Washington, to sign the prelimina- 
ries of peace. 

August 12. — M. Cambon received his instructions on behalf of 
Spain at one o'clock. .At exactly twenty-three minutes past 4 p..m. 
his signature and that of the Secretary of State were affi.xed. The 
President at once issued a proclamation declaring a suspension of 
hostilities, and messages to that effect were despatched to General 
Miles in Porto Rico, to General Merritt in the Philippines, and to 
(ieneral Shafter at Santiago. Similar advices were cabled Admirals 
Sampson and Dewey. One hour before the document was signed 
a bombardment of Manzanillo, province of Santiago, was begun by 
the A^e7i>ark, Hist, Sitwanee, Osceola, and Aharado. It was not 
until early the next morning (.August 13) that the message reached 
Captain Goodrich of the Neivark. In Porto Rico news of peace 
stopped a battle at .Arbonito and Pablo Vasques, just in the nick 
of time. 

August 13. — The attack upon Manila by Dewey and Merritt 
began. A division of the squadron shelled the forts at Malate, 
on the south side of the city, while the trenches were stormed by 



348 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 

the land forces. The squadron had no casualties, and no vessels 
were injured. The Spaniards were driven back by Merritt's men 
and retreated into the walled city, where resistance was useless. 
General Jaudenes agreed to surrender, and General Merritt went 
to the palace, where the Spaniards laid down their arms. 

August 17. — The adjutant-general cabled to General Merritt: 
" The President directs that there must be no joint occupation 
with the insurgents." Merritt issued a proclamation to the people 
of the Philippines. 

August 24. — Mustering-out of volunteers begins. 

August 30. — (jcneral Merritt leaves Manila for Paris. 

August 31. — Spanish prisoners at Portsmouth, N.H., released. 

September S. — ^ Secretary of War Alger requested the President 
to appoint a commission to investigate the conduct of the War 
Department. 

September 9. — The President named the following-named gen- 
tlemen to constitute the Peace Commission : William R. Day, 
Cushman K. Davis, William P. Frye, Whitelaw Reid, and George 
Gray. 

September 17. — Spanish Peace Commission appointed with 
these members : Montero Rios, General Cerero, Seiior Abnarzura, 
Sefior Villarrutie, Senor Garnica. American commissioners sail 
from New York. 

September 21. — American commissioners reach Liverpool. 

September 27. — American and Spanish commissioners reach 
Paris. 

October i. — First business meeting of the Peace Commis- 
sions. 

October 18. — Porto Rico evacuated; General Brooke ap- 
pointed governor-general. 

October 21. — Spain agrees to assume the Cuban debt. 

October 21. — Spanish commissioners notified that the United 
States will take all the Philippines. 



CIIRONOI.OCK AM A' K »I,I) 349 

November 4. — Spain refuses to accept American I'liilijipine 
proposals. 

November 12. — Spain asks time to rcjily. 

November 21. — Ultimatum presented to Spain. Twenty 
million dollars offered for the Philippines. Korged ilespatch sent 
from Paris announcing withdrawal of Seiior Rios, head of the Span- 
ish Commission. 

November 25. — Spain's offer to sell the Philippines to the 
United States for Si 00,000,000 refused. 

November 28. — Spain accepts the terms of the United States 
to cede the Philippines to America for $20,000,000 (reimburse- 
ment for insular expenses) ; also to cede (luam and Porto Rico 
and to abdicate sovereignty of Cuba. 

December 10. — Peace treaty signed at Paris. 

December 12. — The 202d New York marches through the 
streets of Havana. 

December 13. — General Brooke appointed governor-general 
of Cuba. 

December 16. — Consul-deneral Lee returns to Cuba. 

December 24. — Peace treaty presented to the President. 

December 25. — Rioting in Havana suburbs. 

December 28. — Cuba evacuated by the Spaniards, save a few 
troops in Matanzas and Cienfuegos. 

1.S99 

January i. — Americans take possession of Cuba. 
February 6. — The United States Senate ratifies and the Presi- 
dent signs the treaty of peace with Spain. 

March 3. — Dewey made admiral of the navy. 

March 17. — Queen Regent of Spain signs the treaty of peace. 



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